BILL LASWELL/PETE NAMLOOK

2. Blue Shift - Whereas the first piece lies at the lighter end of the spectrum, this one immediately plunges into darkness. The beginning is very similar to track 2 on Rich & Lustmord's murky outing "Stalker," but after a few minutes the elements are stirred up a bit. Deep, ripping bass waves. Movement and motion in the sounds, slow and shifting. Very foreboding, and the occasional faint bleeps of computers place this piece in the not-too- distant future. Overcast synthesis prepares us for aural entropy.

3. The Fate of Energy - Maybe I didn't know it during the first few listens, but this is the track I'd been waiting to hear from Laswell and Namlook. It starts out more orchestral or symphonic in sound, and a brooding guitar invigorates the background melody. This tension is held until about 4 minutes into it, then a rhythm kicks in. The carefully forged guitar sweeps into the periphery, wider and outward. Synths spring to life, all the sudden this track becomes quite active, much more so then those first 2. This part is also quite Moogy, which makes sense, as Laswell joined Klaus and Pete for the Dark Side projects starting with the "Three Pipers..." released only 2 months later. Basslines are laid down, and at 6 minutes some pulses erupt only to disappear soon after. A groovy jam laid down at the interface of darkness and light.

4. The Hell of the Same - We begin with distant clanging through reverb, then metallic droning. I recognize an almost aboriginal quality in these formless voices that reminds me once again of Dark Side of the Moog IV. Alien vocal processes hover, adding that eerie numbers stations feeling, while some more startlingly lucid voice action occurs. More aboriginal gurgling and some Air- ish rainstick FX join in. Now only the most obscure traces of slow melody remain. Very primordial.

5. Infinum - A short disruptive outro... hope you weren't sleeping!

no@h

This one is a serious deviation from the first one, a lot more atmospheric and dark, but quite nice. I paid an arm and a leg for it, and it was sealed so I didn't know what it sounded like; I was hoping for some serious bass-work. However, it's dark & moody, with effects and other intersting stuff that Mr.s Namlook and Laswell are so fond of these days. I particularly liked the Tesla-coil effect from the second track. There were plenty of copies to be had when I looked, so let's hope FAX is printing a whole mess of them.

Dan Foley (courtesy of the Ambience For the Masses website)

The decent etiquette of prominent Namlook-Laswell's Psychonavigation is of a general, impulsive, heavy sensibility electronic flavor and fluorescence; beyond this affirmation its (current?) fifth chapters can stretch to a sum of intelligence, influence or self-centered moods; hard construction synthesis, energy rises and energy collapses (no, I'm not messing around with a reference.), true environMentalness, special septic tastes, intelli-paraphrases, sequentialities and modulation control, acute progressions or simile aggressions of a note's symbol, finally some attached high surf of beatness and looped looks (as imaginable, towards the end). Referential is the entire perspective of a modern superlative, though it's a natural sound of art implication (plus, once more and more sub ducted into continuations, it has its little parts of involuntary exhaustion). The quality's evolution goes radical from a debut's peak to the recent box steps of its kind. Therefore, whilst the first pulse of Psychonavigation sounds of a fantastic introversive tech-styled gem, the second album has the tag of a good incisive resonating ambientage. With its secrets and simplistic in one "joyful" cluster.

This example of ambient, in a less fatuous disposition, is clearly beyond its mind, still the hour of such possible immensities rewards the usual motives of a Namlook act value: deeply minded comfort, in every single touch, an abstract face of being classy and formal, a slick groove within peculiar or stained harmonies, lots of emotion transits in no such affinity whatsoever. Psychonavigation 2 is a good choice of inspirational flow for a late suspended time, and in between comes some effective monoworks on everything being actually of a concept light, plus bringing forth no less pronounced creativity. An ash-scape massive expression has the tone of patience. A "specialized" hear can sense untrained complexity, whether that's actually the motto of blazing dark sound-streams or it comes around after so much sound struggle (the album is curiously without a mess of a form, despite creating a variety of unbalanced, even free-scent music malformation).

Somehow a bit of this half glacial effect generator makes me think of a "Dark Side Of The Moog " link, considering, some parts of Namlook's development and couple of cued disruptive moments from the composition, worthfully taken, plus a reflection of time tunes as well. The analogy would be weak enough to consider (or do more than that), but taking the abs-sunken grey sound of constant skin waves as "photometric" for a work with surprising off-marks. Also the Moon manual grudges with the mental sampling, as in to put a spin on bitterness. Otherwise, Pete Namlook and Bill Laswell respect the musicianship's intended personality.

In the end, there's a project quality I like to think in this album, and that if the music has actually a psychonavigational effect (or the heavy synthesis collapses on its proper meddle). In here, the answer is a definite yes, just like it looked so spectacular in the debut: the ambient's pushover and irregularity creates a nature of a mental state and a cognitive shallow. Transposition makes out of the first two epics, Under Heaven and Blue Shift, an obscure vision and a pulsating tension. On long pitcvhes, the heart-through is intense and seizurable, while the tones almost improvise the skill-senile relation/confusion. The Fate Of Energy progresses to some dynamics, which sound conveniently mechanic, and improvably anticipated. Gloomy and yet "so much" epic-formal, The Hell Of The Same is just as sub-harmonic and sheepfold as the endless mode-inclinations allow a comfort. Infinium takes shortly serious a more different perspective of different sounds, that occurred along the way: disoriented characters of animation, either strange sounds or beats, either a raised tone in the level of balance and sustainement.

Blaming the bit eclectic appreciation I've come to do, this album appears as a profound and advanced substance, both ways it can (be a) challenge: psychically and allegorically. In an accessible trend, this is a colored, illustrated, designed and deflected dreamscape. The chance of more meticulous ambient experiences is already a fragile subject and a spontaneous effort, at this point. Psychonavigation 2 is worth its choice.

Ricochet (courtesy of the Prog Archives website)