REVIEWS reviews...... sounds...... pictures...... words...... links...... info Ujamaa's Ambient Experience 9/98 (e-zine) http://www.susqu.edu/students/p/prindle/ Rhomb/Hidden Topographies The Foundry FOU04 (USA), 1998 With Hidden Topographies, the artistic collective known as The Foundry introduces its third musical project, Rhomb. Rhomb purports to explore the realm between "the vast scope of possibilities" and "the tininess of our subjectivity" with its quiet, spacious tone poems. Most of Hidden Topographies is characterized by light synthesizer melodies over muffled percussion. On first listen, these constructions seem somewhat dull and unaffecting. Eventually, however, their graceful subtlety sinks in and transports the listener into an altered musical reality. Silence is a powerful instrument here; Rhomb has definitely mastered the difficult art of making the space between the notes as important as the notes themselves. Occasionally, Rhomb allows trite sounds and techniques to mar its work, most noticably on "Transmit Process Zen." However, other tracks display a mastery of the possibilities of the synthesizer. "Ice Fields" features a quaint melody over a sea of ambience, while the hidden piece at the end of the disc paints a dark, metallic soundscape. The various projects emerging from The Foundry display both unity and diversity. Hidden Topographies carries on the development of the techniques used on previous releases while introducing a new perspective on sound. It is not to be missed by anyone with a taste for unclassifiable music that is both experimental and accessible.