When it comes to instrumental music, I always wonder which comes first, the title or the tune? This is particularly so when the track names are as exotic as they are on this album.
We encounter evocative titles like A Map Of The Human Heart, Certain Is The Plague Of Fables and The Stars Falling Cold which suggest a range of influences that start from the personal and extend into the realm of fantasy or sci-fi.
The orangey yellow planet on the cover appears to confirm an underlying 'space is the place' philosophy.
c.db.son is a Denver based producer whose pseudonym is an abbreviated form of his real name - Chase Dobson.
This is his second full length album and his first for the Tympanik label which enthuses about the album's "alluring tension between the technical and the emotional".
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The precise mood is actually hard to pin down as the IDM soundscapes include the mechanised detachment of Artificial Intelligence, the digital waves of A Silent Sea, some very Burial-like dubstep of Seven Stars Warning and the altogether busier dance-orientated beats of Data Transmit.
One consistent element is the way he consciously underpins the digital glitch with warm human elements. This means that even hints of a darker, menacing mood are balanced by a more melodic content.
It makes for an interesting and atmospheric album although the diversity of pace and texture give the impression that Dobson is still exploring how best to focus his energy.
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