Band: Pocka

Album: Uhrwerk

Album Year: 2007

Label: Kurzwellen

Genre(s): Ambient

Band Website: http://www.pockamusik.com/

Download From: http://www.kikapu.info/kurzwellen/kwn001.html

Rating: 9/10

Track List:

1. 7:11

2. 7:06

3. 7:12

4. 6:43

5. 7:06

6. 7:11

7. 7:10

8. 7:16

9. 7:12

Brad Mitchell is a man of many talents. He runs and operates Kikapu Net.Label, he is an excellent photographer, and he creates music under the moniker of Pocka. I have been listening to the music of Pocka for a while now, having been introduced through Kikapu. Sometimes I do need a break from all the bleak and gloomy noise that I tend to emerge myself in. And when that break is needed, Pocka is one of the few lighter artists I come back to again and again. What’s been created with “Uhrwerk” is nothing short of magical. An album forged from perfection. "Nine pieces of pure, looping ambient" A brief yet honest description and like the album itself, minimal and clean. Released on netlabel newcomer Kurzwellen, ”Uhrwerk” proves straight from the get go that this is definitely a label to pay attention to.

Simply put, Uhrwerk is minimalism perfected. A full spectrum of warm loops interweave with each other to create quite a comforting journey. Now, when the word “loops” is mentioned here, I’m not talking about the latest sample pack for Acid or Garage Band, I’m talking about masterful organic sounding creations that have been stretched to achieve a perfectly gentle flow. This album immediately reminds me of William Basinski’s “Melancholia,” except where Basinski uses a piano, Pocka uses a plethora of fine sound sculpting tools. The sounds come together to create a story that does well to sit in the background of daily life activities. Yet, this is deep enough music for deep introspection. It is life music. It is like the sunrise greeting an insomniac, carrying some very colorful strings of light. There’s a great deal of ground covered within these sounds as well. The last few tracks of the album go into some pretty bleak areas reminding me of Biosphere’s “Shenzhou.”

You read it correctly; I have indeed compared “Uhrwerk” to some of the best ambient albums ever made. It is just that good. And I would have given it a 10/10 if Pocka was the first to perfect this sound. No matter, this is a free release and well worth the download. It would be criminal not to grant these sounds passage into your ears.

- Jason

March 2007