subtractiveLAD - Where the Land Meets the Sky

Notes are held on keyboards for infinity, synths bubble underneath and layers upon layers of sound are delicately textured throughout each track. Occasionally a stuttering and intricate drum pattern or a cavernous meandering riff enters, creating incredibly intrusive ambient music amid the otherwise gentle atmosphere crafted by one-man orchestra Stephen Hummel, on his fifth record in as many years as subtractiveLAD. It perhaps requires too much patience for a properly attentive listen, but after a few spins as a bit of background noise brief moments of brilliance begin to filter through: classical, world and jazz influences becoming more apparent, like the second side of a decent Krautrock record.

The initial similarity to tranquilly turgid New Age music may a few people off - the odd whale noise or rainforest sound and you may think you're buying incense and crystals from a cute girl with dreadlocks and a nose stud – but this is much more than simply massage music. It just may not be obvious at first.