A Temperament for Angels

Cold Blue Music's reputation as a center for ambient music is reinforced by Michael Jon Fink's contribution to the label's CD-single series. The layered violins of Robin Lorentz and cellos of Erika Duke-Kirkpatrick begin the piece with a long drone, giving way to a series of electronically sampled drones seemingly patterned after György Ligeti's drifting orchestral pieces. But unlike Ligeti, who makes his point and gets out, Fink stretches the drones to a length of nearly twenty eight and a half minutes, the layers segueing in and out in sustained, sometimes growling clusters. Not much happens, nor are the drones based upon particularly arresting musical ideas. Yet given a relaxed environment, this is decent stuff to meditate by. ~ Richard S. Ginell, Rovi