Si Matthews Across The Ether CD

Limited. 2018 release. Si Matthews's Carpe Sonum debut, Tales of Ten Worlds, glorified the Namlook template to usher in new vistas of expansive headtones; to mix Fax-ian metaphors, something like an 'environmental space music' that trafficked in Germanic kosmische traditions while not becoming wholly subservient to them. On Across the Ether, Matthews' manages to find a way deeper into the cosmos with a purity of essence and engulfing outreach, using a broad range of merry modules to free your mind for your soul to follow. Beginning with the prickly drone clusters, shimmering galactic bubblewrap, and moog-esque whoosh of opener "The Search", snatches of abandoned astronauts dialog frozen in a distant quasar's bandwidth eerily paint a picture of beings trapped in all-encompassing voids, the light of farflung orbs their only accompanying illumination. It's an utterly compelling beginning that finds Matthews doing what 'classic' synth/space music does best: erect whole new imagistic textures never before heard, considered, or contemplated. With the 'renaissance' of electronic and synth-generated music going on full-force for nigh on a decade now, Matthews remains one of the movement's most talented young whippersnappers, amorphous by decree, providing us with, to borrow an album title from Hawkwind, astounding sounds, amazing music.

1. The Search 2. Light Years Away 3. Isolated 4. Derelict Places 5. Circles in the Stars Above 6. Proxima Centauri 7. In Stone 8. Lunar Serenity 9. Last Exit 10. Across the Ether Parts 1;2 11. Encountered 12. Escaping Gravity 13. Landing Probe 14. Speed of Thought 15. A New Horizon 16. Radial Velocity