2350.org - From Within 3

Some complain that Hawtin is too much in the background in this album and I have heard, whisper it talk of the use of guitars on one track. Well fiddle dee dee big daddy but this is possibly the strongest in the series if you ask me! What with high production quality, emotive and distracting electronica this one gets regular playing due to the attention-grabbing and quick changing aural scene set by Silent Intelligence I-XII. In this respect it reminds me a little of Waiting for Snow in that there is a great deal of musical variety while retaining a clear theme throughout. The discs opens with a quick synth intro, (II) this is soon replaced by a moody sci-fi track with atmospheric tinkling synth and a low bass drone. Warm orchestral chords like that of Silence III make an entrance on III as the drone continues, we could be watching the opening to an Inspector Morse episode if those metallic taps hadn't made an entrance. The warmth of the piece is maintained and the strings become more emphatic as the piece winds down. IV starts with a fantastic subtle bass-line and a jazz guitar is echoed over the top, the bass and guitar go well together and the drone is dropped while the strings continue from the last piece - a sort of musical drop-one continue-one. V breaks off the slow moving pace of the earlier tracks with a breezy synth and a super-cool trotting beat and a wavering bass sound. On top of this airy atmospheres are brought in and a nice theme played on what sounds like a small xylophone. VI is short: a treated German voice speaks and the drone comes back in while static shots are fired intermittently. VII is similarly short with bass synth bloops (!) moving things along to VIII where a heavily treated guitar is used as an abstract repetitious pulse while a wailing synth and guitar create a cool but ghostly set. A warm analogue repeated set of almost random notes open IX followed by a hi-hat and synth building us up to the atmospheric X and essentially the closing track of XI which ties everything up nicely returning to a similar synth theme found in I but with more layered atmospheric sounds. XII sounds like the internal movement of the massive machinery of radio telescopes, nothing else and it lasts sometime, an atmospheric closer if you are in the mood but most may want to finish at XI. There is a bizarre hidden track which I will leave a secret.

(review by Rowland Atkinson)