It can't be easy to make techno that makes you feel emotional. Like its sister, My Yellow Wise Rug (also released in 1994), The 4 Cornered Room is mellow ambient techno tinged with melancholy. Most tracks have the type of sci-fi atmosphere that makes music like this great. The evocative pads of "Surface Bound" and "Seeing Sense", the echoing cowbell and vocal sample on "The Needs of the Many", and the use of reverb on many of these tracks, especially "Time Melts" and "Seeing Sense", are great examples of techno progressing beyond just beats. The album closes with the cinematic ambient piece "Grace". This is one of two of The 7th Plain's albums released in 1994.
"Surface Bound"
"Grace"
Aphex Twin - Syro (Warp, 1994)
Arovane - Atol Scrap (City Centre Offices, 1999)
As One - Reflections (New Electronica, 1994)
Autechre - Incunabula (Warp, 1993)
Autechre - Garbage (Warp, 1995)
Autechre - Tri repetae (Warp, 1995)
B12 - Electro-Soma (Warp, 1993)
B12 - Time Tourist (Warp, 1996)
I got into this one much later than Electro-Soma, but after maybe two listens I found that I liked it more. It's a bit darker and slower. My favorite is the plodding, kind of ominous "Void/Comm". They don't rely too heavily on samples on this one either, which is a good thing.
