"Yule Tide 2" is a 4-track album with two of the tracks being cover versions and the other two original compositions. Covers include Edgar Froese's "Stuntman" and Goblin's "Profondo Rosso". In this review I'll concentrate on original stuff. The first track is called "Armada". It's an amorphous electronic jam, with bleeping synths and a lot of atmospheres. It all could probably become too disjointed, but it really sticks together as a whole. It sounds a bit influenced by the more experimental moments of Tim Blake's "Crystal Machine" period. The electric piano that's used for some bluesy, improvised runs is a unique touch that adds certain spice to this strange and intense track. The mood of this track is not easy to define, but it's certainly not joyous, but more darkly mysterious/melancholic. Some background hiss is mentioned in the sleevenotes, although I didn't notice any major quality problems. The second track ("Salamina") starts with excellent repeating motives/sequences and pads combination. Excellent relaxed number with synthesized flute that somehow avoids sounding clichéd. Apart from flute, there is also acoustic piano and a lot of other, more synthetic sounds on show. There are also skillfully programmed drums that never dominate. The track has something of a late night feeling to it. The second part of the track is more sequencer-dominated with a few atmospheric interludes. Of note is also the strange beepy lead sound that improvises on top of gently sequenced soundscape. Pretty chilled stuff. The album ends with the aforementioned cover versions, of which "Profondo Rosso" is an appropriately rocky number that features (sampled) distorted guitar riffs and some great Hammond organ sounds. Great late-night listening album (except for "Profondo Rosso" which is not that relaxed to put it mildly).

Etherfysh is the project of Chris Christou from Hastings East Sussex, England. Chris was exposed to EM pretty early in his life. After he grew up he acquired his first synthesizers - a kit built string machine and a Korg MS-10. Since then he has been recording his solo music on cassette and an open reel-to-reel tape recorder. In the mid-80's he got some interest from the French label Egg but eventually nothing came out of it. Finally, Chris set up a new project called Etherfysh which got airplay on several specialized radio stations followed by several CD releases. There are many influences in Chris' music, but the most important ones come from the Berlin School, Vangelis, Tim Blake, Weather Report and Joe Zawinul. After listening to a 3-track promo with compositions taken from the CD A Box of Fysh I would say that Chris' music will probably be enjoyed by most EM listeners. It's not really sequencer heavy, not on this release at least. Instead, Chris relies on a lot of atmospheric, sometimes mysterious sounds, floating pads and subtle rhythms. Sometimes the music is comparable to 80's Tangerine Dream, although with a very relaxed feel. There is a strong melodic edge to it throughout (although some sections do not have any distinguishable melody per se) and I do notice a few classical influences as well or so it seems to me. The track "Sidewalk" is very ethnic-sounding. This is interesting stuff with a slick production (the sound quality is very good for a self-produced CD). Recommended.

This is less of a review of this recording than it is a review of the U.K. EM artist, Etherfysh aka Chris Christou. I just happened to have been lucky enough to get this musical "Christmas Card" which seems to be an annual gift to Etherfysh listeners.

You can find his website and a list of his available CDs here, tho it might move soon to a more permanent location, I'm told. This site also has a bio, gear listings, and several great mp3 downloads to give you an idea of where he's coming from.

The majority of this recording is the first two tracks, each over 11 minutes long. The first is 'rmada, an improv inspired by a friend's dream according to the cover. Not surprisingly, this one is very ambient in nature.

Salamina, the second track, is somewhat more upbeat and structured. Several sequenced beats comes in as well as several flowing melodies, transitions, and mood shifts. The cover explains that this tune started out as "a glissando guitar jam", but also mentions that it no longer contains any guitar. He goes on to say that the final version, when released will likely not resemble this version too exactly. Essentially, you get to see an artist working a piece out, which is what gives this CD it's charm.

This CD gets a fairly low rating from me only because it's not a "real" release and wasn't intended to be. However, it's certainly my highest rated Xmas card and has piqued my interest in this artist.