Hoffmann, Michael - "Luminous" [EP]

First class ambient (8/10)

If you can trust Brian Eno, then ambient has the capacity to put the listener into a different, not necessarily existent environment just by the use of sound, and to acoustically confront him with new sensations of space. Even though carrying on with this tradition, Michael Hoffmann breaks some more modern ground soundwise on his first solo-ep on iD.EOLOGY. Minimalist is how he goes about when bit by bit, the penumbral monstrous steel-construction of an abandoned industrial ruin appears in the mechanical monotony of resonating feedback-loops and stolid muffled beats. Debris of clanging metal and crumbly noise cover the ground, the walls of the corroded workshop answer each step with a multiple echo. Very slowly a harmonic crescendo illuminates the room, bathing it in the sunny glow of warm, comforting pads and touching it with the soft summer breeze of glittering arpeggios. What you are normally likely to encounter during an arts-performance, is what this ep achieves solely by means of sound. So creating and changing environments, generating and conveying new sensations of space is possible in a different way. But who would ever have doubted that you can trust Brian Eno.

[Artist's website]

First class ambient. The artist is very accomplished, so this EP is flawless from the technical and production side. Each piece is very creative, full of different ideas, so it never gets boring, like so many bad ambient works. I gave it "only" 8/10, because it doesn't fit my taste perfectly, as it is slightly too calm and smooth for my liking. But it shouldn't discourage you in any way from checking this overall great recording.

The album has been released by the iD.EOLOGY netlabel and is available for downloading at netlabel's website as well as at archive.org in mp3 and ogg formats.

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