Pye Corner Audio

Review: On his third full-length outing for Ghost Box, Pye Corner Audio man Martin Jenkins offers up a sequel of sorts to 2016's "Stasis". While that featured music inspired by suspended animation, sleep and "cosmic exploration", "Hollow Earth" sees the admired experimentalist heading underground for a spot of "subterranean exploration" and "submerged psychology". Interestingly, while there are plenty of dark and immersive cuts throughout the album - see the John Carpenter style chug of "Descent", the quiet solitude of "Prismatic Gateway" and the clandestine throb of "Dancing Shadows" - it's nowhere near as pitch-black as you'd possibly expect. Instead, he plays around with melancholic melodies and quietly beautiful electronics, a blueprint that results in such poignant and picturesque cuts as "Deeper Dreaming", the bubbly "Mindshaft" and glassy-eyed "Surfacing".

Review: On his third full-length outing for Ghost Box, Pye Corner Audio man Martin Jenkins offers up a sequel of sorts to 2016's "Stasis". While that featured music inspired by suspended animation, sleep and "cosmic exploration", "Hollow Earth" sees the admired experimentalist heading underground for a spot of "subterranean exploration" and "submerged psychology". Interestingly, while there are plenty of dark and immersive cuts throughout the album - see the John Carpenter style chug of "Descent", the quiet solitude of "Prismatic Gateway" and the clandestine throb of "Dancing Shadows" - it's nowhere near as pitch-black as you'd possibly expect. Instead, he plays around with melancholic melodies and quietly beautiful electronics, a blueprint that results in such poignant and picturesque cuts as "Deeper Dreaming", the bubbly "Mindshaft" and glassy-eyed "Surfacing".

Review: With his trailblazing Black Mill Tapes series now a distant memory, Pye Corner Audio man Martin Jenkins seems to have made a conscious effort to slow down. Stasis is his first album for a year, and feels far more considered than some of his previous work. Some may bemoan the lack of experimental spontaneity, but the album contains some of Jenkins' best work to date. Check, for example, the sharp, ghostly chords, starburst melodies and metronomic synthesizer arpeggios of "Autonomization", the vintage '90s ambient electronica of "Ganzfeld Effect", and the dreamy, heartfelt bliss of the similarly minded "Ways Regained"; all are amongst Jenkins' most emotive tracks to date, and simply bristle with brilliant ideas.

Review: Martin Jenkins dons the Pye Corner Audio alias once more, transferring to Death Waltz in order to deliver the soundtrack to an imaginary horror film. It's naturally an all-analogue affair, with Jenkins making the most of his impressive collection of vintage synths, analogue drum machines and effects units. There's much to enjoy from start to finish. Check, for example, the ghostly chords, foreboding bassline and spacey electronics of "Do You Hear Then", the creepy, Carpenter-ish horror-ambience of "It May Not Be Real", the evocative late night paranoia of "Descent" - which is similar in tone to some of Jonny Jewel's soundtrack work - and the clattering dancefloor throb of "The Spiral", whose bassline, beats and darting melodies are just begging to be played over a booming club soundsystem.