Electronic duo ULTRAMARINE may or may not still be a going concern. If not, 'A User's Guide' (their fifth album) represents the swan-song for an outfit who achieved significant critical acclaim in the 1990s but for whom commercial success proved illusory.
Their 1991 debut 'Every Man And Woman Is A Star' was released at a time when the hippy/folk spirit rediscovered during late 80's acid house lived on digitally through the work of The Orb's 'Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld', the KLF's 'Chill Out' album, Orbital's 'Brown' album and which possibly achieved its commercial and critical high point with Primal Scream's 'Screamadelica' album.
Fast forward to 1998 and the pastoral pleasures of 'Every Man..' and 1993' 'United Kingdoms' have given way to an urban and solely electronic kaleidoscope of edgier ambience that is more akin to the releases of Warp acts like Autechre. Folk melodies have been replaced by more soulful chords and harder dub beats as evidenced by opener 'All Of A Sudden'. 'On The Brink' is like a twisted remix of a John Barry score and these filmic tendencies are further explored in 'Ghost Routine' although this has greater affinity with the jazzier Lalo Schiffrin.
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While distinctly cooler in tone and exposition than ULTRAMARINE's earlier work, 'A User's Guide' remains accessible throughout if less of an eye opener or the audio equivalent of a page turner. Their genesis from the 1988-1991 club scene can still be traced back even at this late stage in the day through the bleeps and squelches of 'Surfacing' and 'Ambush'.
Still, this is a key visionary piece in the timeline of the post club music scene that stands up to close scrutiny in 2006. 'A User's Guide' concisely and brilliantly highlights arguably the mosy interesting route that came from the ambient perimeters of techno and that is still being mapped today by the likes of Boards of Canada.
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