2350.org - Solitaire

Soft environmental ambient that builds and blends into some more broken up techno sounding beats. These beats are nice, and not annoying as some albums tend to have. The beats and melody build further, until the track has evolved into something pleasingly upbeat. The ambience in the background add's another dimension with the track. at 11:50 into the track, it finally peaks, and remains the few moments that could last forever.

track two starts off in a rather dark fashion. After a few minutes we are treated to a nice techno beat. Its not overly forward, and tends to linger in the mid ground. There are some samples which tend to overshadow the beat. This is not a bad thing. Slowly the track fades out. Not the best in fade outs however.

track three opens with a movie sound track type piece. The slow beat fades in, mixing with the ambient surroundings. At times it seems a bit too sampled. Too many samples, not enough real melody. There are some tribal qualities as the track progresses. This is a mixed bag for some. It usually depends on my mood if it sounds good to me, or not (odd I know).However, the track does maintain your interest throughout the 9 minutes. So far remains the weakest of the tracks.

track four adds some lively percussion. Interesting echo and sample effects. These effects/samples seem to rattle right through your speakers (with a good system). Up beat, and infectious. Has to be the best track on this cd thus far.

track five brings us back to the ambience. More quirky samples that become the foreground. This is a good track to go outside and watch the stars too. Some of the best ambient chords from this album are on this track. As good of a track as track four. I like this one, because it is longer, and had remarkable progression.

the last track is different than any of the others. Has some spacey samples with ambient weirdness. Not as weird as I have heard before, but....

anyways, The track builds to a louder peak. Increasing in intensity. Mixing in gradual ambience, which float through. A pleasant track to end the cd with......this has prolly got to be one of the more unusual wet dreams I can think of :-)

(review by jackthetab)

this is a really really nice release. David Moufang is putting out some really nice stuff. For those who have Synoptics, this is very much in the same vein as Move D and Reagenz (who should have a full lengther soon I hope). Highly recommended!

(review by rdudley)

Like Modula Green in many ways, but more organic. It is strange to say this because nothing feels more natural than the Modula Green album, but Solitaire has a way of whooshing you around from one landscape to the next without really interrupting the emotion of it all. It has a nice epic continuity to it.

(review by einexile)

"Solitaire" is the debut FAX solo offering by David Moufang, aka Deep Space Network. For those FAX-heads who may not be familiar with Moufang's past DSN work (specifically the Source Records EPs and LPs, the latter of which were licensed by Silent and Instinct as "Earth To Infinity" and "Big Rooms," respectively), Moufang is also one-third of the "I.F." and "I.F. II" projects, both of which were released on the FAX sub-label last year in collaboration with Dr. Atmo and DSN staffer Jonas Grossman. Although extremely dub-laden (especially the second release), the "I.F." projects showed an affinity for what P.N. is fond of calling "ethnic themes"-a sort of ineffable qualifier that falls somewhere between Middle Eastern modes and often unorthodox instrumentation-that pushed the albums beyond the simple bounds of "ambient dub" or "ambient techno," etc., into something more adequately referenced by name (the first release's "Kissy Loa," also on the Instinct-Ambient 2-CD compilation, is a good example). If you're still confused, Moufang has also recorded with Jonah Sharp of Spacetime Continuum (quiet in back!) under the name Reagenz, and their 12" was released in late-'94 on both Source and Sharp's own Reflective label.

Although again dubbed "ethnic environmental ambient," "Solitaire" actually approaches that description only in a few places (the obvious sounding "Damaskus-Dakar" and "Indian Mantra," specifically). But where the DSN releases and the two "I.F." albums seemed to lean more toward an interpersonal approach to the music (perhaps more celebratory or engaging), "Solitaire," as its name implies, is a much more, er, solitary music-slowly (if ever) unfolding synth themes matched with loping, often experimental beats that move the brain cells rather than the dancefloor. The opening track, "In/Out," is a 15+ minute corker well-suited to the staring out of rain-soaked window panes at dusk pondering, say, Nietzsche's third critique in the "Genealogy Of Morals" or otherwise farting the day away. Moufang's past work with Jonah is betrayed at a couple of points on the track, as it is on the follower, "Mad Mood," with "Alien Community"-esque synth blurbles flittering in and out of view, but the match-up proves effective as the more introspective tendencies of the album are tempered by bollocks effects-wanking that remind you not to take it all too seriously. This reviewer's ears find the capper "Sergio Leone's Wet Dream" a bit foreign-something like an excuse to call a song "Sergio Leone's Wet Dream," which I can understand-but fans of Moufang's Source stuff will probably dig it.

(review by Sean Cooper)