From Within – From Within 2

Not quite as good as the first entry in the series (It's a tough one to beat!), nevertheless it's still a fantastic album. It's more atmospheric and 'looser' than the first album (not so rhythmic) but it creates an amazing feeling whilst listening, and like the first album, it's highly engaging and keeps interest throughout. I feel like this is one of the best 'space' albums in my collection without sounding too trippy in a forced way.

i absolutely love this album. it's nearly perfect. an interesting note; if you're trying to rip from this CD there is an issue with the last track. i have tried on three different FAX copies. i ended up buying a copy on the m_nus label just for this purpose.

A wonderful builder. Begin with the lighthearted Do Bassdrums. Up to 4 min could be on a Silence album: all Pete. Hawtin brings the Plastikman in around then. Add some wicked Namlook-solo 1994-era bass and staticy bleeps. Then go dark and haunting with Brain. Some good PK synth work in there. But the whole album is simply a build to Future Surfacing (awesome track title).

(I'll guess at who is doing what.) A forboding RH solo synth note wobbling around provides an eerie backdrop that sends chills. A great PK bass synth sequence fades in and bounces around, with a few tactful morphs. 5 mins in a new PK high seq layers in. Some PK synth pads/melody tower over the 7-8 min mark. No drums yet but you're already bopping your head to the synth rhythms. Super!

One of the best, longest builds gives way to the light at the end of the tunnel. A couple of more PK layers cross in and out. Near 12 min we finally get some disted drums. Finally RH makes his presence known at at 13:20 with an awesome 303 line that takes over and disperses all layers except the drums. Simple, but he tweaked this one to perfection. See the Plastikman dance! Not even halfway through the track! Then we bring it all back together for a superb second half and finale. Extra points for the choir patch around 21:45. That takes it into the stratosphere of epic anthem proportions. We're talking DSotM9-epic.

The beauty of Hawtin/Namlook collabs is they have completely different styles that really complement each other. Plastikman usually bores me quite quickly as it usually doesn't vault to the sweet spot for me, and so starts sounding like repetitive tedium. But here we have PK adding a slew of interest and production to the Hawtin minimalist basics. It works out quite wonderfully. Alone the two parts wouldn't do it, but together the gestalt does vault to the "awesome" level.

A light epilogue hidden track finishes off the last 8 minutes. I'm not sure I truly appreciated this album until now, even though I've had it since at least 2000. I see in my ratings notes that every few years I bump it up another rating notch -- definitely a good sign! A grower, worth another listen!