Review Summary: This kind of ambient is the best kind of ambient

Purelink make ambient for those who like their downtime to sit adjacent to pockets of alternative dimensions; their sound is a gentle, alien weave of shifting textures, transportive and soothing though rarely suggestive of familiar comforts (unless you're fortunate enough that this kind of thang is your familiar comfort). Aqueous layerings bleed in and out of one another while dubby grooves pulse and dip as though in response to unseen robotics whirring away towards a mystery purpose. At times it seems almost thrillingly impersonal – all that keeps opener "In Circuits" out of the same ballpark as the dreamlike technological manglings of '90s Oval is a stable beat – while at others it's content to orbit in a more inviting points of contact, as per the delicate motif that nourish "4k Murmurs" and "Pinned"'s nostalgic chord loop. Much like genre titan Vladislav Delay, Purelink add contour to otherwise immaterial soundscapes with rhythmic subtleties and intermittent glitch effects; more specific to themselves, the glitches in question are not so much abrupt refractions within the image-frame so much as the gentle trickling of light and dust from a source just outside it. Purelink are masterful in taking this in their stride without ever overstating it, and in in just 40 luminous minutes they lay down a convincing reassertion of strengths whereby ambient dub has preserved an advantage over practically every major school of the genre – who knew that that trademark emphasis on space and timbre never had to come at the cost of equivalent nuance in rhythm! Signs is wonderful; hit it up.




Recent reviews by this author
Magdalena Bay Imaginal DiskMelt-Banana 3+5
Alora Crucible Oak Lace ApparitionSusumu Yokota Grinning Cat
The Smashing Pumpkins Aghori Mhori MeiTwice Dive
user ratings (28)
3.6
great


Comments:Add a Comment 
JohnnyoftheWell
Staff Reviewer
November 14th 2023


61761 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

nice one jesper

Sunnyvale
Staff Reviewer
November 14th 2023


6104 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

This sounds cool, will check!



@JesperoftheWell

granitenotebook
Staff Reviewer
November 14th 2023


1276 Comments


good album

stupidpuma89
November 15th 2023


28 Comments


Thanks for the writeup. I liked To / Deep, will give this one a spin

Edit: yeah it's really good. This style of percussion is cool

ToSmokMuzyki
November 15th 2023


12278 Comments


ah my bathroom tile finally came in

insomniac15
Staff Reviewer
November 15th 2023


6221 Comments


Great record, haven't heard about them until now. Will check other LPs too.

Hawks
November 15th 2023


92877 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Slayz.

ThyCrossAwaits
November 17th 2023


4034 Comments


Oh SURE

Like a month ago when I was sick out of my mind and taking way too many showers I was DYING to find music EXACTLY like this lol and it existed the whole time

This is utterly blissful, I love it I love it

JohnnyoftheWell
Staff Reviewer
November 17th 2023


61761 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Yes!!!!! Is this the first thing of its kind you've heard? Got a whole world of spacey bliss ahead of you if so!!

Demon of the Fall
November 17th 2023


35216 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Thanks for brining this to my attention. I like this. As it happens maybe spacey, almost dream-like ambient is pretty cool. Unlike TCA I do know of it, but am certainly not very well versed in this sort of thing

It seems appropriate that I've been listening to Vladislav Delay somehow, although this was a purely chance meeting

Hyperion1001
Emeritus
November 19th 2023


26787 Comments


good album. check terekke if you like this style.

ThyCrossAwaits
November 19th 2023


4034 Comments


Johnny if you’re packing more damp ambient like this lemme have it for sure plz

Calc
November 20th 2023


17432 Comments


there's a lot of good ambient this year damn.

mindleviticus
November 20th 2023


10548 Comments


I just listened to this the other day and didn't realize it just came out lol. But ya really good shit.

mindleviticus
November 20th 2023


10548 Comments


Check out Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement too, same sort of empty, spacious, hypnotic, "on-tranquilizers", high attention to detail kind of vibe too

ConcubinaryCode
November 21st 2023


7660 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Chill listen for sure

JoylessBastard
January 4th 2024


487 Comments


Loving this. Hypnotic.

JohnnyoftheWell
Staff Reviewer
June 10th 2024


61761 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

all yous from this threadget on the new Priori asap thank you!

and also Xenia Reaper if you have a free 30 mins after that

Koris
Staff Reviewer
July 7th 2024


21698 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Still an excellent album to chill out to



You have to be logged in to post a comment. Login | Create a Profile





STAFF & CONTRIBUTORS // CONTACT US

Bands: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


Site Copyright 2005-2023 Sputnikmusic.com
All Album Reviews Displayed With Permission of Authors | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy