Somewhere Else [Digipak]

Originally released as the first disc of the limited-edition three-disc set Ascension of Shadows, Somewhere Else was re-released separately on Projekt in 2005. Given the longstanding mutual admiration and collaboration work between Steve Roach and Vidna Obmana, it's little surprise to hear the two of them working excellently together here, though there's more to the recording than that. Consisting of a single hour-and-ten-minute-long track improvised as it was recorded, Somewhere Else is testimony to how the two can so carefully work together to produce astonishing results. The emphasis at the start is on careful, slow textures -- no beats to be found anywhere -- and the combination of subtle rhythms in the electronics and the slow arcing of further keyboard pieces as they add to the arrangement sets the general mood and pace of Somewhere Else. From there the track wends its melancholic but compellingly beautiful way, simultaneously meditative and more than a little harrowing, given the sense of vast, bottomless depths suggested by the music and production. It's prime Roach and Obmana, even if focusing in on one sound rather than the wider range of their compositional work, and is well worth investigating not only by fans of either but by those intrigued by ambient music in general. ~ Ned Raggett