's best recordings are timeless. Even his great recordings are practically timeless. His recordings after the '80s, however, gradually acquired a different description: dated. Released in 1992, attempted to cross both his ambient and pop records of the '70s with faddish techno, while invoked his ambient period to a sterilizing effect. (Even ambient records need some ambience.) His work of the 2000s was heavily collaborational, fortunately showing him to be still curious about the varieties of musical expression -- beyond what he's been able to display while producing for and . regains the timeless, ageless feel of his best ambient work. It stands as his first record for , a label that has long worshiped at the altar of headphone electronica, although much of this album is the fruit of sessions originally recorded (but declined) for the Lovely Bones soundtrack; some of it was written and recorded by and frequent collaborator while they were touring , 's 2008 pop album with has been known for quality control for over 20 years, and this one is no different -- it's the best record in 20 years (although that's not saying much). The opener, is a piece of bright ambience -- as close to a soundtrack as a stereotypical work can get. The title track has the dark textures of the later ambient works ( ), while the middle section has nods to contemporary electronic music -- is pummeling, percussive techno, and the next track, also indulges -- then it's back to opaque, spacious ambience with Here too, some tracks have the earthy bass of , others the formless but inviting void of , still others the heart-stopping piano isolationism of the original may be trading on his earlier developments in ambience to a small degree, but is a good and proper balance of curiosity and expression. ~ John Bush