Search - Main :: Hz

In search of space

loteq | Regensburg | 03/19/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Hz" is a compilation of six monthly released EPs. It's always very hard to describe Main's sound, but I suggest this stunningly prismatic album falls between the moody guitar-rock of early Main efforts like "Motion pool" and the metallic sonic fragments of the "Firmament" series. Disc 1 starts with "Corona", a mighty soundscape with hazy, ethereal guitar riffs, nautical bass lines, and barely audible vocals. Quite possibly one of the greatest ambient-rock songs ever. Within the first five tracks, Main reveal their entire musical cosmos. Disc 2 is rather ambient-oriented, with rumbling, scratching and scraping noises, but everything here is slightly calmer and more melodic than on the "Firmament" series. All in all, "Hz" is an extremely complex and adventurous affair. Even if you listened to this album all day long, it's impossible to keep all the sounds and textures in mind. I guess it provides you listening enjoyment for the rest of your days. I can't say more because there's nothing else like this in rock music. Main's obvious intention is making people speechless."

An Unjustly Neglected Ambient Masterpiece!

Steven Yates | Greenville, South Carolina USA | 03/19/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"MAIN is the moniker Robert Hampson is using now, and with Hz he's completed the transition from the dark post-psychedelic trance rock of his late-80s band Loop and the first Main releases (available now as Hydra-Calm) to a brand of vaguely industrial ambient music all his own. Brian Eno has said that what is wrong with a lot of the stuff that gets called this is that it is "too busy" (full of drum machines, samples, etc.). Not a problem here. Hampson knows when to play and when to back off and let the tape loops and devices take over. I've no idea, of course, but I'd like to think Eno would approve of this. "Corona" has a dark bass line that will haunt you for hours afterwards, but it's the second of the two discs in this set that really shines! "Haloform" and "Kaon" may be some of the best ambient ever made. Given that some of Main's material has gone out of print--I can't find the very first Firmament recording anywhere--if you're an afficionado of true ambient (as opposed to "ambient dub" or some such) I wouldn't waste time tracking this one down."