artist: SETI country of origin: USA/Greece style(s): Ambient techno, spacemusic essential releases: SETI (1994, Instinct) Pharos (1995, Instinct Ambient)

A must for any serious ambient fan, these are two albums of first-rate spacemusic from ambient techno's first wave. The short lived SETI comprised of the unusually gifted New Yorker Taylor Deupree - one of the main creative forces behind the ambient music of legendary 90's label Instinct Records- and Greek-born electronic composer Savvas Ysatis.

SETI, of course, is also the official name for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, a global project that scans the stars for extraterrestrial transmissions. Thus inspired, Deupree and Ysatis have created truly technological music. It's made not only with the leading edge music technology of the time, but also drawd inspiration and sampled sounds from astronomy lectures and deep space transmissions received by Earth's radio telescopes.

For experimental techno, these two albums are often quite melodic, segueing between sparse, haunting tunefulness and abstract strangeness. The music is often bleepy but rarely grating, and unsurprisingly full of space and an alien-like presence. The duo's second album Pharos is a double length album and a good introduction; if you enjoy it then there's no doubt you'll love the self-titled debut as well. The non-essential third album Cyphers (1996) is best avoided: a cold curiosity of rhythmic clicks, pulses, noise and general tunelessness.

On Instinct Records during this period Deupree also recorded three superb ambient techno/trance albums under the pseudonym Human Mesh Dance, more beat-orientated and harmonious than his work as SETI but no less creative.

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