Vacuuming the Forest

Amilcar is a mono-named pianist whose sense of melody at times recalls that of the California post-minimalist Harold Budd and of pioneering new age pianist Liz Story. However, the Florida-based musician's Vacuuming the Forest has a richer sonic texture than either of his predecessors, with his watery grand piano solos supported unobtrusively by ambient synthesizers. Although these 12 tracks fade into each other quite nicely, there's enough melodic variety to keep the album from sounding like a single hour-long track; for example, the title track introduces acoustic guitar, percussion, and eerily voice-like synth textures, and "Sunrise Harbor" adds subtle nature sounds. More melodic than many similar albums, Vacuuming the Forest has some potential to attract listeners outside of the usual new age demographic without sounding like a sellout to fans of the style.