Midwich - Life Underwater

It's easy to be complimentary about the Midwich CD - cos it's fantastic - the perfect length - under 40 mins - starts with a quick computer game, then a longish track which is so proudly simple, oh what becalming joy, it's a hum that hum's one way, then it hums slightly differently, and if you play it quite loud yr ears go funny and you have to keep swallowing, it's like going downhill fast, but yr whole soul is going uphill even faster. Then another brief track of high-speed bedspring action with another dose of dampness to make em rustier and creakier. Then a longish track which is drone plus some sleeping machine swallowing on a loop. That's it. Simplest CD I've heard for months and months and years and consequently one of the loveliest CDs too.

From DDDD fanzine, Marleys, Minstead, Hants, S043 7FY (no web or email)

This is great, an album that jumps from piercing analogue synth noodles to warm gentle drones. The title track in particular has got me hooked, a beautiful organ drone that goes on for 11 minutes before more discordant frequencies begin to jump in and out of the mix, then 16 minutes in the whole thing resolves itself nicely in a low level hum. That's followed by octopus meets bagpipes, unsure. 45 seconds does exactly what is says on the packet. Rays starts off sounding like a bagpipe being squeezed to death and then brings in shoals of fish to watch and make a variety of bubbling sounds. Sometimes drone based music can seem like an endurance test, but this is beautiful, retaining enough piss and vinegar to stop it becomin hippie shite. Midwich is the pen name of Rob, the man who does fencing flatworm recordings, which is quickly becoming one of the best 'labels' putting out music in this country.

From Is. #1 (18 Kelsall Grove, Leeds, LS6 1QY, UK)