Album
Vermilion Sands

posted: 2024-06-01 76:14 Global Communication

released: 1994-06-01
on label: Dedicated
genre: Ambient
listen at: Apple Deezer Spotify YouTube Music
more reviews: Slant Star’s End The Guardian

Tempering the industrial tilt of their previous Reload material with slower, more graceful rhythms and an ear for melody unmatched by any in the downtempo crowd, Mark Pritchard and Tom Middleton produced the single best work in the ambient house canon. The tick-tock beats and tidal flair of “14:31” are proof of the duo’s superb balance of beauty with a haunting quality more in line with Vangelis than Larry Heard (though both producers were heavy influences on the album). On several tracks the dark side appears to take over – the pinging ambience of “9:39” – but for most of 76:14 the melodies and slow-moving rhythms chart a course toward the upbeat and positive.