Uwe Zahn likes to take his time between records. It’s been five years since the release of his debut Atol Scrap, and two since its masterful followup Tides. Atol Scrap wasn’t the best or most distinctive record of its time, but it was pleasant enough, and although it was a bit lacking in character, the underlying craftsmanship of the arrangements was commendable. In the end, though, it was just another airless IDM record with angular structures. This isn’t to say it’s not worth a listen; it’s just that it didn’t have much to distinguish it from the rest of the pack.
For his second album, Zahn paired with Christian Kleine for Tides, which was something of a revelation. Kleine supplied several guitar figures, which Zahn arranged into a haunting and programmatic meditation on the French seashore. Tides was by turns beautiful and dramatic, all the while managing to neatly sidestep the New Age pitfalls of such a project. Continued...