Borderland - Review by John Peters
Feb. 26, 03

INDIUM
Richard Bone

     Yet another album of what could be called “experimental” music that crashes through the barriers of expectations and is actually quite approachable. This is my introduction to composer Richard Bone, and on the basis of this album I'd be more than happy to hear more. Whereas The Victor Cerullo album was extremely cosmic, “Indium” is a little more organic sounding - the opening track, “Indium Part I” features the sampled sounds of wildlife underpinning a mixture of choral synths and piano. Very reflective and beautiful. “Mercurial Wave” follows, this is more “spacey”, I guess utilising those shimmering steely sounds that seem to be a trademark sound of “Electroshock” recordings. Yet, again, the spaciness is tempered with lyrical piano lines that bring in some welcome humanity. “The Mists of Palenque” is another gently atmospheric mix of electronics and piano which could almost be classed as “new age”, though it's much better than that. The next track, “Mayapan”, changes again, into one of those Eno-like ambient soundscapes that just seem to drift outside of time. The same goes for “In a Space Between Marigolds”, a simple repetitive piano motive that slowly shifts in space. Very reflective and hauntingly sad. Track seven, “Jasminia”, carries this sadness on with a piece built on soft drones and synth pads, though the end result is perhaps more wistful than outright sadness. The final track is “Indium Part II”, the album's magnum opus, lasting a whopping thirty minutes - and it doesn't disappoint, taking the disparate elements used in all of the previous tracks and creating a wonderful soundscape with them. “Indium” is an excellent album, mixing ambience and trance to good effect.

John Peters (“Borderland”)