New Zealand Listener September 2016

Cellist Marko Ylönen has recorded a beautiful double album containing Bach’s six suites for solo cello. On the album, Ylönen wants to emphasize the way in which the different series work together in a dialogue. That is why he does not play them in their numerical order, but creates an experience that takes the listener from the world of passion in the fifth series to the joyful tones of the last sixth series. The clear musical structure and the affect of the musical characters and gestures combine in Ylönen’s performance. His interpretation of the Bach suites tells the listener something invaluable, touching and timeless.

Rudy Adrian keeps on surprising the listener with his excellent blend of retro-electronic music and ambient soundscapes. In the USA, people now also had the opportunity of seeing this special musician live because he toured there in 2002. The result, "Concerts in the USA", contains perhaps the best music the New Zealander has produced until this moment.
The CD opens with "Japanese Garden" with beautiful atmospheres, which accompany Rudy’s dark voice and a big, Vangelis-like, solo. Then the sequences enter the music in "The Donner Pass Rail Corridor". They become heavier and heavier as the piece further progresses and Adrian gets the chance to put in even more solos…

For the better part of their seven years together, Chris Davids and Liam Ivory have taken their Maribou State project to nearly every corner of the globe. From playing lavish events in Ibiza to DJ’ing in intimate clubs in India and New Zealand, they have gradually established a reputation as one of electronic music’s most cinematic and creative duos. Their lush and brilliant debut album, Portraits, demonstrated “their ability to create multiple moods without overdosing the listener in synthetics.” It was also an inward-looking and isolated experience, where each song was immersive yet mesmerizing. Their sophomore album, however, sees the pair extend themselves and create one of the year’s most impressive records…