I think I have before hinted that PROJEKT are something along the lines of an American 4AD before, and the first couple of tracks, from one of their newer signings LOVE SPIRALS DOWNWARDS pushes the point to an extreme, "Mediterranea" is so close to the COCTEAU TWINS' sound that I imagine that devotees would only suss out the difference by a slightly less sharp voice than LIZ FRASIER's. To say which track I'd say some of the more accessible material from "Blue Bell Knoll" maybe from the "Tiny Dynamine" period, and strong hints of "Quisquose". The second track from them, "Forgo" keeps the beautiful, flowing, heavenly COCTEAUS sound, but is a little less easy to compare. The drums have a natural, woody sound, giving it an extra dimension, going with- rather than breaking-through the flow. "Fallen Flowers" by EDEN follows the mood perfectly, although the music is less strictly 4/4, more a gently flowing drift of warm mood sounds held together by percussion which avoids any strict structure while seeming to remain ever present. In a way this reminds me of JAPAN, if you can imagine what they might sound like if they had continued along the lines of "Tin Drum", and had honed any edges away. Another dreamy, drifting song which makes one hunger for a full album's worth. "The Shadowed Sky Now Settled" by another new signing THANATOS is based around a gently strumming acoustic guitar with mood synthesizer & horn-like sounds all moving at a slowish pace. The vocalist reminds me a little of PETE MURPHY circa "Hollow Hill" - a milder, less straining voice, with that distinctive voice best for speaking from shadows. "Everything Is Cold" from LYCIA is another warm piece, whisper gentle, again based around acoustic guitar rippling with synthesized mood sounds filling in warmly around the gaps. The vocalist sounds a little like the singer from IMMACULATE FOOLS practicing late at night, trying not to disturb others sleeping in the same house. Next up is another from EDEN - "The Slow Bells" - built up on a six note sequence, with deceptively minimal keyboard sounds swelling around. There's a kind of muted harpsichord break which later on adds icy fingers to the warm, dark sound. On this the vocals reminds me a little of MARTYN BATES in a reflective mood. Next up is a piece familiar to myself many readers - ATTRITION's "A Girl Called Harmony" which has been on both the "A Tricky Business" album & the CONTEMPO compilation CD. It has a mildly Medieval feel to it, mainly built on both Martin & Julia's voices in strange harmony with a cycling six note sequence of spidery harpsichord sound. It's mood is perhaps a little colder than many pieces on this album, mildly chilling the listener with it's sense of displaced time. SOULS WHIRLING SOMEWHERE warm the listener back up with "Swim", a gentle, dream-like-drifting piece of deep hued non-beat sound, like a slow-motion video projection of grey & brown clouds plugged into the auditory, rather than visual senses. The singer has a smooth, youthful, edgeless voice which drifts along in perfect harmony to the music, as if aware that harsh projection might cause damage to the beauteous-yet-delicate undercurrent of sound. THANATOS next offer their second track, curiously enough it's a cover version of the old K.C. AND THE SUNSHINE BAND song "That's The Way (I Like It)", as if they had reduced the original track to about a quarter speed, dnjii,ed off most of the energy & harsher sounds, leaving a baes sustain & execution-slow bass drum beat with the vocalist possibly being the one facing the death penalty. BLACK TAPE FOR A BLUE GIRL keep the dark mood for their "Into The Garden", moving almost towards the COLD MEAT INDUSTRY sound - large dread fanfare sounds in slow motion with monk-like voices chanting an indistinct, cycling mantra. The female vocalist - I take to be JULIANNA TOWNS - comes like a golden shaft of light through the uneasy, disturbing mood, agitating the monk-voices into different configurations. "Three Reptiles Walt At The Opening To The Underworld" by STEVE ROACH again continues the mood if not the actual sound. It has a dark, bizarre body, held together by the most loose structure which is almost but not quite percussive. Around this Stone Age slow rhythm grow the distant, indistinct hum of keyboards, rattles of stringed beads and bones, strange, barely-connected pieces of sound, all combining to give a relaxing but chilling soundtrack to a minimalist movie other-world landscape. Instrument credits probably beat SPK's "Zamia Lehmanni" album - rocks, didgeridoo, reptilian spirit voices, clicking sticks, East Indian frame drum, dumbeck & short gecko voice. "Alia Ma" by O YUKI CONJUGATE is taken from the "Peyote" album - reviewed elsewhere - it's a little more upbeat, an Eastern rhythmic piece which grows out of shapelessness into a slow dance piece with an insistant bass drum a little like that on the theme music to the film "Crocodile Dundee". This is just a sample of the wide, varied but consistantly addictive music on this album. And the vocalist again brings MARTYN BATES to mind, although this time wailing wordlessly but with strong, distinct tones. The album closes with a long piece from VIDNA OBMANA who joined SAM ROSENTHAL on the "Terrace Of Memories" album. Called "Awaken In Floating Colours - Composition 5", it is a strangely angular piece, abstract & restful, yet demanding attention from the listener. It has some of the strangest piano playing I have heard on it - slow, meditative, yet somehow crumbling, decomposing, biodegrading. The piano motif dies gently away, yet the passive, floating structure remains, moving in soporific laziness, it's structure ever changing, everv staying the same.Even the packaging on this album reflects the sounds within - a definite 23 ENVELOPE feel to it, in it's brownish monochrome, it's blurred images & story-telling pictures. Quite simply one of the most beautiful & fascinating albums you could buy this year.Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.