'Safe blue space exists'

Why is it that everytime i search for Electronica on Purevolume, i'm presented with either one man with a synth and a mental disorder, or a band whos definition of 'electric' seems to be purely the computer they recorded their music onto. Not that i'm saying Purevolume hasn't given me some great stuff, i'm just looking for a middle ground here. And who knows, maybe i've found one

CBRO

Now i'm not sure if that picture is of him or not, but it's certainly very cute, and i'm hesitant to believe he's an on man, but we can still dream. So this man labels himself as ambient, and jesus christ is this music ambient. I'd even go so far as to say that this is the first band i've come across in this project that who's sound i wouldn't hesitate to call 'beautiful'. And that's saying a lot.
First impressions are really a bit...dull? He's got this whole repetitive piano melody happening and not much else. Now i may be a bit biased in favour of this song, since Sigur Ros' track Samskeyti is one of my favourite of theirs. Pure, beautiful piano that doesn't actually need anything else. And this is what this guy has managed to produce. And i take my hat off to him. Big time.


As the first track ends, you are reminded that this guy has also called his music 'electronic' but the purity of that first song showed not even a hint of that. Well then you'll be pleasently surprised when the second song begins in much the same way, yet we've got this soft drum machine and occassional synth that add a surprising amount of depth to a style that we'd otherwise become slightly bored with, but he never forces them upon you. It's like passing someone money or drugs with a sublte handshake. By presenting us primarily with this slow, dream-like piano that will often send the odd shiver down your spine that has been lightly dusted with the slightest hint of a drum machine here, or a little garnish of synth there, his music is ultimately giving you a choice. You can either embrace these elements as an enhancement and depth to the instrumental, or you can forget about them yet continue to enjoy the music for what it is; minimalism at its very best.


I thought perhaps that my claims of this music being beautiful were perhaps a little ambitious, but the more i listen the more i have to emphasise that this music is not only beautiful, but very nearly perfect in the way it's constructed. Repetitive it may be, but i as i said earlier this man emulates wonderfully what Sigur Ros have always done - presented simple and honest music but with that little twist that just adds so much more. With Sigur Ros it was the vocals - those falsetto, angelic lyrics that match so well with the dreamlike piano. And for this man, it's these hints of electronica that have been dappled throughout his music to create something quite ethereal and, honestly, something quite unlike anything i've heard before.