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With this special album, I invite you to travel back with me to April 1999, when Tucson-based composer David Michael Matuch sent me a demo plus a few handwritten notes of his third album “Brainstorm: Adventures in Hypoxia”, that’s still sitting comfortably in my collection until this very day. I recall Mr. Matuch said it contained more atmospheric music that at times would even seem quite ominous. The latter was not too bad for me, but “Brainstorms” ambient music acts on the listener as a kind of slightly hypnotic mind soundtrack that seems produced and created in a somewhat strange way. On various spots, distinct light rhythms and bass sequences surface in the nice, dreamy music, which can sometimes be called quite daring and adventurous. Immersive atmospheres are sketched out on the enchanting 9-minute “Lost at Shore”. Things shift into motion on the fourth piece “Neural Highway”, which is followed by the beautifully drifting “Out of Mind” and ethereal soundwaves of “Cerebral Vortex”. Further introspection and surreal sonic spaces are created in the 11-minute title piece, situated in the second half of the recording. A bit weird and obsolete though is the final track “Mindset – October”, an elegy with cello sounds that, in my opinion and compared to the previous compositions, seems rather out of place. This said, the 62-minute “Brainstorm” (limited to 200 factory-pressed hardcopies) is another highly idiosyncratic product that is hard to compare with anything. Its futurist, time-machine-like sonic content offers a complex yet enticing brain trip for advanced listeners, which is even more satisfying and impressive when absorbed through quality headphones. I’m sure David (who passed away on April 14, 2000, at the age of 35 from complications due to his lifelong battle with muscular dystrophy) would have been delighted the release is now available officially and to a wider public after 24 years…. Overall rating: between 3.5 and 4 stars
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