Reverb is a not a dirty word. Reverb is an effect often used in ambient and dub music production to simulate those components of sound which are produced from reflections off walls or objects in the surrounding environment. When done well it can transport the listener into an other world of the producers making and evoke feelings of warmth, isolation or comfort. When it is done as well as it is on "Winter Garden" , a collaboration between Harold Budd,Eraldo Bernocchi and Robin Guthrie it takes you way beyond the other world and into a deep introspective look at your relationship with sound, space and atmosphere.

American Harold Budd has gained popularity over the years with his minimalistic piano work and collaborations with Brian Eno. Although he has hinted at retiring now and then over the past decade or more he is still producing beautiful soundscapes well into to his 70's and will appear as a featured composer at this year's Other Minds festival in March. On this release he teams up renowned Italian musician and producer Eraldo Bernocchi and Scottish producer/guitarist Robin Guthrie, founder of Cocteau Twins and Violet Indiana.

L to R : Robin Guthrie, Harold Budd, Eraldo Bernocchi.

This is epic moody and melodic music that, much like like the title itself hints at, is at once barren and desolate while remaining eerily beautiful. On first listen one might get the impression that each song song sounds too familiar and alike. However with a careful ear you begin to spot the winter fruits hidden in the garden and you are soon wrapped up in its inescapable artistry.

Previous collaboration between Budd and Guthrie have been a little hit and miss for me. Heavy handed muscular guitar drones by Guthrie sometimes outshone Budd's piano work. However on this occasion there are no such problems. Both Guthrie's guitar and Budd's distant, brooding piano work sit comfortably next to each other and are enhanced further by Bernochii's pulsing bass and electronic production.

One can't help but feel this recording requires the best setting for the optimal listening experience. I found most enjoyment from this album while listening with a good pair of headphones while lying down with the lights switched off and nothing to distract me. I discovered an icy melancholy that was beautiful and weightless, a boat made of clouds drifting out to sea. This is required listening for any fans of minimal ambient music and will no doubt find cross over appeal with fans of soundscapes and film scores.

The CD is available online now through Bernocchi's RareNoiseRecords label.

Like skateboards ? Like classic and modern art ? I know I do, so here is a little bit of a fun game I made. I spent the afternoon playing around with some photoshop skateboard templates and overlayed them with some of world's most popular paintings. You can move your mouse over each image to reveal the artist and painting. Why not try see how many you recognize before you move the mouse though. Enjoy dudes !

> You might also like this psychedelic pictures post

If you like 3d fractal animations then get ready for a real treat. This is a wonderfully animated 3D fractal movie created by Jérémie Brunet ( aka bib993 ) titled "Like in a dream II". The video was originally created to accompany one of the popular TEDx talks presented by Bryan Alvarez about the Human Atlas project. The project is aiming to create the first ever 3D interactive atlas of the human body that scales from organs to atoms, and depicts the dynamic living processes of the human body.

"The mission of this project is to celebrate the beauty of living systems. Imagine exploring a version of Google Earth where you could see all of Earth's animals roaming the planet, oceans and weather moving in real time, and travel deep into the Earth's center. If you can imagine this for the human body, you can begin to imagine the Human Atlas Project." - Human Atlas Project

Jérémie also has a rather excellent deviant art page with lots of 3d fractal images he has been creating over the last few years.



For more interesting vids check out this trippy videos collection