The Kiffed CD EP by The Mystifying Oracle

With nine releases since the late 1990s, Austere continues to produce some of the most beautifully compelling abstract music this reviewer has heard. In spite of their obvious talent (or perhaps because of it?) this duo has proved to be extremely camera shy, preferring to have their music speak for them, as their recent post on "The Ambient Way" mailing list stated.

"We're trying to avoid the typical fandom/cult of personality that grows around musicians but rather try to let the merits of our music (or lack thereof) stand alone in how people judge our work. We're also determined to explore areas of music that interest us without regard for popular or commercial potential, and as long as we're happy with the results, we've no mind as to how others take them, other than really enjoying when someone else hears our music and enjoys it too. It surprises and delights us, as we do like bringing happiness to others."

"Wanting to be anonymous seems to put many people off or have them decide that we're not be taken seriously and we're fine with that. We're just trying to make music we like and live up to our own ideals, which we readily admit are not those of the mainstream."

This adventurous and exploratory attitude has resulted in some incredible releases and, recently, the birth of a side project. While the vast majority of Austere's work is beatless ambient, The Oracle this time out combines elements of trance, psy-trance, and techno, all to Middle Eastern percussion, samples, and native instruments.

There are four tracks on this CD, three outright electronic dance music (two fairly downtempo, another which starts as such but jumps up to 138 BPM a third of the way through) and a fourth track which avoids electronic rhythms to produce a piece much more native and ethnic-sounding.

Contained within these tracks is a journey into the spaces, both inner and outer, and The Mystifying Oracle proves a more than able pilot of both. For more information on TMO, visit their website at http://www.austere.org/oracle/.

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