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Brian Eno once said that New Age music denied the presence of evil. I've always thought of his quote as the best, compact answer to the difference between ambient/minimal and new age "music". Erik Levander's new release Kondens works well within this definition, providing a variety of beautiful musical elements in and around the machine drones and clicks, but with a welcome undercurrent that swings from bittersweet nostalgia to an almost brooding intensity.

As with many releases within this genre, what occasionally sets this record apart are the welcome departures from what has become a standard boilerplate for minimal, electronic music: crunching noise-drums, clicks and pops, droning machine hums, etc.

The arresting "Månen Viskar", is a small, heartbreaking piece starting with two plaintive woodwinds dancing around one another before melancholy BOC-style tones and skittering electronics appear, creating the soundtrack to a great lost Brothers Quay film. Equally so, the small "Tribut" is another welcome side-step from the electronic forest; a lovely piano melody that could easily function as the wonderful backdrop to an old expressionist film.

Unfortunately, very little of the album steps outside the musical boundaries as strongly or as well. While the epic "Oskärpa" displays a welcome, wider scope through three movements that build into a surging, musical symphony of tones and noise; much of the record plays within familiar modes and sounds. Tracks like "Tölvupop" exercise the style arguably as well as ever, but here's hoping the next release moves more towards all-out musicality, for which Erik Levander has clearly proven himself capable.

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Reviewer: Will Joines Added: April 22nd 2008