artist: Mystical Sun country of origin: USA style(s): Environmental, psy-ambient, cinematic, spacemusic essential releases: Deeper Worlds (2006, Cyberset Music)

San Francisco musician Richard Plom aka Mystical Sun makes a panoramic, celestial brand of psy-ambient and his distinctive tracks like the exquisite"Nebulous Mist" have graced many genre compilations released since the mid-1990's. His own albums are few in number - a yawning 12 year gap separates his first and second albums - but his second one Deeper Worlds is masterful.

The album comes in two main styles: big spacious ambient dub, breaks and muted doof on the one hand, and beatless sound collages infused with Zen-like calm on the other. The music full of glistening textures yet has a rounded, soft production sheen. Deeper Worlds is a testament to the value of treading the road less traveled, ie. finding and creating original live sounds and digital samples.

Among the rhythmic tracks "Halo" is outstanding. Here the composer masterfully layers 3 or 4 melody lines at once with different synth sounds, adding loads of tiny details like jangling zither and choral vocals. "Cloudbursting" is another gem, a rousing tune led by an electric guitar arpeggio and a groove that sounds a bit like 90's big beat gone psychedelic. The gentlest moments are nearly all in the album's last third. These tracks are highly visual ambient pieces, often with environmental effects and blessed with an exotic, pristine "lost paradise" kind of beauty that recordings in the new age and relaxation genre often promise but never deliver.

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