Gaudi & Antonio Testa gaudi:testa 1105: Continuum Review

The em:t label was home to some of the finest in UK electronica in the 1990s before disappearing off the face of the earth. Now resurrected, their third release under new management unites ethnomusicologist, instrument builder and music-therapist Antonio Testa with the mysteriously named Gaudi.

It's a good combination; Testa's arsenal of exotic pipes, bells, drums and chimes thread their way through Gaudi's squelchy,languid electronica. Flutes and synths trace wispy half-melodies and grainy drones over the sounds of exotic birds and waterfalls; twisted but meaty dub rhythms emerge to shake the floor occasionally.

Fans of The Orb, FSOL et al will find much to keep them in a state of bliss here, though this isn't merely a trip down memory lane for the ambient generation. It's tougher, stranger and oddly timeless. Lovely stuff.