Astronomy For Children by n.ln (hpll004)

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n.ln (Nyles Lannon from San Francisco) shows idm at its sweetest, yet it's no old-school electronica. The sounds cracking out from his computer steer the DSP and sampling product towards more experimental, yet utterly melodic and 'safe' side of the genre, making some too obvious turns at times. 'Spoke Words' for instance – an interesting composition considerably worsened by the dull rhythm.

Throughout the record the sense of safety and detachment prevail. Whereas the latter could be happily (mis)taken for a style, the former's perhaps less welcome. Still it's not all cliches of safety as 'Thas Spun My Head', for example, sends female love sighs over the electronica-land and 'Left Bubbles' creates an ethereal wave, mixing in some radio voices and running the melody loop as smooth as a badger. There's certainly nothing wrong with the short tracks 'In Place Of…' and 'Thoughts' either, the former standing out for its pleasant sound content and precision and the latter for pseudo-glorious melody. Of course, both of them are melodic as is this entire batch of carefully selected nu-skool electronica. No need to get the dance shoes out yet, just let the n.ln's near-cinematic touch subtly decorate your surroundings. In this age of aural tapestries, we need a controlled program to work one out for us, and (as this sounds like an appropriate ending for a review) I might as well suggest this one.