A Sacrifice Shall Be Made / All The Wicked Scenes vinyl

To label this collection of sonic innovations 'ambient' kind of misses the point. Yes, the record quickly creates an ambience, but the genre itself usually implies a reliance on harmonisation and a heavy leaning towards futurism, or at least synthdom, whereas what we have here is something quite difference. Like listening to a full orchestra tune up, before diving into the forgotten culture of some long lost civilisation. 'Paper Tigers' is a case in point, jangly guitar refrains apparently suspended on a knife edge of complex noise. It's a contrast to both 'A New Story', the preceding opener that acts as gentile warm up, and the vocal collage of 'Ta Sha Si Le Ta', where harmonised voice lines combine to develop an air of intense but hushed atmosphere. Add twinkling sleigh bells and elongated strings of 'Golden Calf', and the tap-drop percussive tension on 'Interval', and you've got a real adventure waiting.