Cycles 3

Stephen Philips' Cycles 3 is some of his spookiest work. There are elements of Philips' regular harmonic and sonic vocabulary in this recording, but for Cycles 3, subtitled Drone Symphony in E, Philips has taken a different turn as far as the overall ambient sound is concerned. The three works that make up the Cycles series should be played together, continuously rather than individually; and it's with that structural playing order in mind that Philips has truly deviated from his original course with the previous two works in the Cycles series. It's almost as if he's taken listeners from a sort of dreamtime excursion into some kind of almost-industrial ambient space that seems to be the background sound-setting for one of the refinery or boiler room scenes from the Nightmare on Elm Street movie series. For all of this work's differences, though, it truly adds to the cohesiveness of the Cycles series. Individually this is an excellent recording, and while it's a little rougher than the previous two works, it still has a wonderful edginess to it, as well as a strange and inviting sonic treatment. It's recommended that listeners become familiar with the Cycles 1 and Cycles 2 before they try to broach this recording, as the two segue naturally into Cycles 3.