Sil Muir, Sil Muir (Diophantine Discs)

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Sil Muir is the brand-new ambient constellation consisting of guitarist Andrea Ferraris and veteran sound manipulator Andrea Marutti.

Together they have conjured four grand, huge blocks of dark grey slate, while working away at them exposing every fissure and delving deep into each crack, perhaps best exemplified in the dominating track, aptly named "We Don´t Need Time, We´re Already in Eternity". Comparisons with the patient craft of Thomas Köner are not amiss.

On "Light at 4:48", a flash of nostalgia occurs as the guitar rises up and briefly bays at the moon, calling to mind the guitar-and-treatment experiment "(No Pussyfooting)" by Robert Fripp and Brian Eno. Into desolation is injected an almost pastoral sense of nighttime.

In anticipation of the official release of the CD in its handsome cardboard packaging, Horchata (Michael Palace) was given access to the tapes and provided a remix taster on a three-inch Taalem CDR.

”Ahnedonia” (sic) sounds like a distant orchestra tuning up as quietly as it can so as to not wake the sleeping audience. ”Time Dilation” is a great deal more ominous, the sound of technology decommissioned, a sputnik turned off, no longer beeping regularly, wobbled out of orbit and aimlessly adrift "in eternity". Ocassionally it reflects the errant light off some sun, but this is only a false sign of life.

Both editions are wonderful examples of dark ambient with a soul.

discs.diophantine.net, http://www.myspace.com/silmuir, http://www.taalem.com