Latest releases reviewed

SUSUMU YOKOTA & ROTHKO Distant Sounds of Summer  Lo  ****

Music as subtle and languid as it gets get without the musicians lying prone on the sofa, Distant Sounds of Summer is a high-powered ambient pow-wow that documents the atmospheric skyscrapers and sonic cathedrals which this summit meeting dreamed up. Susumu Yokota is the undisputed champion of understated slow-motion epics, while Rothko's Mark Beazley and vocalist Caroline Ross have been building quite a rep for their soft, hushed brushstrokes. So Distant Sounds of Summer is naturally awash with the kind of evocative echoes you'd imagine from such a pairing. You can spot Yokota's handiwork in the stilled chants in the background of Water's Edge, but the simple, unhurried lull of Deep in Mist is all the more remarkable for how it balances the various inputs without over-egging the result. Add in some unexpected alien funk (Path Fades Into Forest) and you, too, may find yourself purring at the sheer fabulousness of it all. www.susumuyokota.org Jim Carroll

DK7 Disarmed  Output  **

Sometimes a good idea is simply not enough to be going on with. When Tiga producer Jesper Dahlback and the Mighty Quark's Cork-born, Stockholm-based Mark O'Sullivan started working on their Disarmed collaboration, dark-hearted electro was probably what they had in mind: Nick Cave slumming it with moody, minimalist, low-slung electronic beeps and bleeps. While they've got the sound bang on - you'll travel many a long day before you hear anything as icily precise and captivating as Where's the Fun or the Depeche Mode-like Disarm - O'Sullivan's vocals are not quite up to the job at hand. There's the odd wisp of Marc Almond here and there, yet, for the most part, the vocals are just too one-dimensional and flat to make any sort of impression on the listener. Harsh as it may seem, a wholly instrumental Disarmed would probably have been a better bet. www.outputrecordings.com Jim Carroll