Format 2LP

Max Wuerden’s latest full-length excursion is apparently entitled “Format” because the digital download and vinyl versions are completely different (I.E he tailored the tracks to each format). We’ve not listened to the digital edition, but this vinyl version is, at times, breathtakingly good. While each of the nine tracks is beat-free and undeniably ambient in nature, there’s still plenty of subtle variety to be found throughout. Compare, for example, the pulsing beauty of “Desiccate”, where what sound like processed clarinet lines slowly rise above sunrise-ready chord sequences, and the clandestine creepiness of “Format”, a paranoid and claustrophobic affair that creaks under the weight of its own post-apocalyptic intent. Other highlights include the hypnotic, stretched-out analogue electronics of “Wirkungsgrad” and the becalmed musical waters of “Exothermic Reaction”.