LUNARIA

David Bagsby voyages into space, enters lunar orbit, and after a gradual skip over the maria settles down on the surface for some crater counting, gentle walks through soft regolith, and tunes-in to the mascons at Serenitatis & Crisium for his very pleasing 2004 ambient release Lunaria.

As with any good ambient work, the quality of sound is the lead player and here Bagsby pays a keen ear to what his waves do to a set of speakers. "I prefer to think of this collection as Gothic mood music", he writes in describing his desire to do a Moon-based album. Opener 'Mare Nubium' lays down big walls of vibration, doing precisely what bass pedals should as it shakes the ground with power, the nervous triplets of 'Selenopolis', 'Mare Vaporum's gravimetrics and 'Mare Crisium' with 1950s-style theremin samples. As we approach the Antipodes out toward the Aitken basin, things get quieter and creepier for 7-minute 'Oceanus Procellarum', the crawling Selenites at Peary Crater and the Peaks of Eternal Light, the soul-swallowing 'Mare Imbrium' and finally rising back out with 'Lunar Halo'.

A pleasing ride with Dave Bagsby hitting just the right kind of astro-spiritual tone, perfect for an afternoon or evening of cosmic intrigue and contemplation.