VA: SMM Vol. 1
Ghostly

SMM Vol. 1 deftly showcases Ghostly's ambient side with marvelous contributions from Twine, KILN, Kosik, and Mifune. Twine's stately “Gliding It On” opens the set with scarred bursts of static bleeding onto elegant, hymnal guitar phrases and pinballing beats. As splendidly arranged as the tracks on Sunbox, KILN's ruminative “Isthmus” contrasts the delicate mournfulness of its chiming guitars with percolating beats, while Kosik's spectral “Signals” floats firefly glimmerings over rippling patterns and “Glasting Molvo” casts a hypnotic spell; Mifune's dirge-like “KILN Remix Suite” deepens its recognizable KILN traces with a cavernous bottom-end. Consider this five-track collection a mesmerizing sampling, with Twine's piece in particular stunning.

December 2004