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DISORIENT Richard Bone inhabits his own special little corner of the world of electronica, betimes crafting drifting ambientscapes (like the excellent 'The Spectral Ships' on Hypnos), at others getting pretty jiggy and, well yes, quirky with his buttons and knobs (check out his hilarious little bit of boogie, "Vox 2.5", on the emit label's '1197' compilation). He has furthermore displayed a marked affection for the sounds emanating out of the southern hemisphere on albums like 'Electropica'. What makes his entire oeuvre all of a piece, however, is Bone's overriding love of a good melody. Retaining the sense of easy-listening play put to such effective use on the latter-named CD, Bone swivels more in an easterly direction with 'Disorient', his take on World Music with a distinctly Arabo-Indian hue. The tunes seem simplicity themselves and yet they manage to be totally beguiling and irresistable - the sawing strings and cooing woodwind of "Barhoom", for example, or the seductive percussiveness of "Templenet" just won't stop playing in your head. 'Disorient' is a tiny little Garden of Eden located smack dab in the middle of a desert of ofttimes too seriously self-conscious electronica. Stephen Fruitman |