Fax+49

The results on this two-track double-disc are nothing less than transcendental, and the two have found a good balance between urgency and ambience up in Sharp's San Francisco studio. Disc one, a single piece called "Interdimensional Communication," pulses along with analog warmth and gloom as if it were the background music to a great sci-fi novel. The second disc, titled "A Long and Perilous Voyage," proves that no song is too long if it has a good groove, and vaguely tips its hat to the sort of ambient work that Brian Eno has been doing for years. Namlook is the Bill Laswell of electronics; he puts out so many recordings that sometimes he has to rely on outside contributions to provide inspiration. Disc two is clearly a showcase for Jonah Sharp, who shines here more than on some of his more recent solo work, like "Emit Ecaps"…

Rob Gordon was a co-founder of the UK's Warp Records, onetime whizz-kid employee of Sheffield's Fon Studios and creator of Forgemasters'mighty underground “Track With No Name.” Recorded during his mid-90s freefall from an acrimonious split with Warp, Ozoona is one of the only surviving longform examples of Gordon's mercurial art, and therefore represents something of a coup for Fax. “She Ship” is an elegant, urbane update on ‘bleep'techno, while “Flat Pack”'s Moog input suggests this track is Namlook's main contribution to the CD. The 17-minute “Blackbird Suite” is a loose, swinging take on ‘intelligent'drum 'n'bass that sounds like a band of cybernetic jazz virtuosi. But “The Hunt” raises the bar entirely: a manic, monotonous grey slew of compressed Hardcore breaks that's rarely been outrun, even by the likes of Autechre in their more jackhammering moments.

Moufang's first solo project for Fax is a pretty minimal affair, similar to the I.F. series but without quite the breadth of sounds. Moufang restricts himself to an 808 and maybe two or three synths for the entirety of the disc, which shifts track to track between moody, soundtrackish ambient and more upbeat techno- and electro-derived listening music.

Outer Dark displays Bill Laswell's penchant for working out compositional ideas at great length, breaking the 20-minute barrier on both of the album's instrumental pieces. Entirely a studio creation, the music is the result of Laswell's (sounds) collaboration with Robert Musso (engineering, treatments) at Brooklyn, NY's Greenpoint Studios. The duo attempts to shape a composition out of the dark ether on the opening "Chakra." It begins with a buzzing sitar drone (providing the Eastern flavor common in Laswell's music) and strummed guitar emerging from the murk. Disappearing and returning throughout, the elements take on a sort of dizzying paranoia at song's end through their repetition. As for the ether itself, the musical backdrop is a drift of throbbing, amorphous ambience comprised of mildly chilling keyboard washes and tube-like breezes…

One of the very few IDM discs on FAX and thus tended to be one of the more talked about sublabel releases. Probably too obscure and candid to be on a label like Warp, it's hardly a very cohesive album at all but a jumbled collection of various sounds, beats, samples and sequences that tends to come together then dissipate. Things come together in places (such as Track 7 and Track 13) but not for long. Track 9 is the most solid piece that can standalone. Overall, these 'tracks' are more of something to be listened to as a whole which has its place as a after-rave oddity you can definitely groove to on occasion. No doubt while digging through these Arizona Tracks with their unique sounds, you'll stumble onto to something that will perk your ear.

Pino and Wildjamin align themselves with FAX's direction of veering away from heavy synth based trance to slower more melodic and rather original electronica. Picking up from them last track of Xangadix, the remarkably warm and emotive pieces set The MS-Series apart from the duo's other works as their most essential. "Monochill" and "Voltage Control" are rich examples of how ambient and trance are combined to transcend what either of the two genres are capable of.

The 'Outland' album series was a collaborative endeavour by the visionary US bassist-producer Bill Laswell and the late German musician Peter Namlook that pushed the boundaries of dark ambient and electronic music. Spanning five albums released over a thirteen year period from 1994, this new boxset serves as a testament to the creative synergy between the two masterminds.

Film, television, and video game music composer Daniel Pemberton got his start in avant-garde and ambient electronic music, influenced as a teenager by statuesque electronic artists such as Jean Michel Jarre, Tomita, and Vangelis. Pemberton began collecting keyboard gear from an early age and wrote a tips column for a video game magazine to earn enough money for increasingly high-end equipment. He also began recording his own compositions, and passed a tape on to Mixmaster Morris at one of his gigs. When word (as well as additional tapes) continued to spread, Pemberton recorded his debut album, Bedroom, which gained release in late 1994 for Pete Namlook's highly collectible Fax Records.

The two albums I.F. and I.F. 2 (short for Intergalactic Federation) Deep Space Network made with fellow German artist Dr Atmo for Fax Records feature longer tracks, offering a bigger canvas for Moufang and Grossmann to work on. These are true collaborations with Atmo - a lover of shadowy, cosmic Eastern melodies and percussion - where the whole ends up greater than the sum of the parts. I.F. contains the extraordinary "Ten Waves", a 25 minute psychedelic blissfest of bleeps, radio & TV samples and spacey melodies driven by a tabla drums and a steady, almost jazzy two-chord progression. This stoned masterpiece was a staple in dance party chill spaces in the 90's and stands up brilliantly today, every bit the equal of other extended chillout classics of the era.

Like its predecessor in 1994's Recurring Dreams of the Urban Myth, Wireless draws from the urban environment in assembling dense, disorganized soundscapes of subtle beauty. Unfolding slowly over the course of an hour, Wireless, as its name suggests, utilizes radio waves in combination with treated electronics, with results closer in feel to electro-acoustic experimentalists such as Carl Stone and Morton Subotnick than the warm, often more active ambient the Fax label is known for.