"an intoxicating blend of dark Ambient and steamy jazz. A vast, shifting blanket of atmospheric drones and textures, sourced in part from processed field recordings and occasionally spiced with samples ( a snippet of Ginsberg's Kaddish, some purring shortwave modulations) is sporadically supported by a supple, powerful rhythm section, but mostly left to billow darkly and malevolently in a way that recalls some of the colder moments of thei compatriots Larsen. The use of a brass section in such an unlikely context is what really sets Abandon All Hopes apart.



What with the magisterial work of Pram's Harry Dawes, and now this from SIMB's Stella (no surname given), 2008 is going to be all about trombones, mark my words. "This record is meant to be listened to entiraly and repeatedly" declares the insert "play it loud by the end of tonight". Go to it, readers - The Wire