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Jan 28, 2013 Issue #44 - Best of 2012 - Grimes By Sam Cleeve

There’s something rugged about Centralia, the latest release from Mountains, the duo of Koen Holtkamp and Brendon Anderegg. Despite the elegant synthesis of electronic and acoustic sound that permeates these six ambient tracks, it’s a feeling of awe that strikes most persistently when listening—this music isn’t unlike the sort of expansive sonic vistas one might associate with the likes of Stars of the Lid or Hammock.

If the enveloping digital stutter of opener “Sand” proves a bit too much, then the gentle skip of the acoustic guitar on “Identical Ship” will undoubtedly calm the nerves-both, however, promote a sense of meditation, of sheathing the listener in something bigger than themselves. Herculean centerpiece “Propeller” clocks in at just over 20 minutes, but its duration is soon forgiven for its immersive ambitions, with a fierce white noise wave cocooning the music until it’s all but evaporated.

Centralia always begs the listener to get lost within its expansive soundscapes. While it’s sometimes guilty of letting the electronic component of its electro-acoustic confluence run amok, overpowering the more subtle elements of the music, it remains a worthwhile listen for any fan of the ambient canon—or simply anyone in need of some escapism, for that matter.

(www.myspace.com/apestaartjemountains)

Author rating: 7/10