Joey Beltram – Aonox

This album can be played at 45rpm(cut at 33rpm)or CD played on a Pioneer or SL-DZ1200 and tweaked on the speed. This is actually a techno album in the JB style, adjust the speed and majestic ambience becomes killer dancefloor, try it for this is fact from the man himself. One of the finest releases of any genre that is electronic music.

I'm not much of an ambient fanatic but sometimes a release drags my attention. Mostly this is the case with some Aphex Twin, Solar Quest, FSOL or Global Communication albums. But this particular Joey Beltram one shares a special place in my heart and mind.

As if Joey wasn't already the don of the so called early nineties 'energetic techno' he succeeds in giving ambient an extra dimension. He managed to merge his particular techno sound with ambient while combining it with eighties 'The Cure' like melancholic sadness and a lick of acid from time to time. I've a soft spot for deep, quality music with a dark edge, it makes me feel well and it feeds my mind. Therefor 'Aonox' fits me like a glove. Although the album is mostly overlooked, it would have been known by a bigger crowd if it was released on e.g. Warp or so.

I only got hold of this album a short while ago and considering the pure beauty of this soundtrip and the amount of listening time I could have given it, it's a real shame I didn't buy this back in the day. Simply timeless and brilliant.

Almost ten years have ed since the release of this masterpiece but when I listen to it I don't find myself at the other end of the decade. This music that doesn't get old. This music keeps its strength as the amber imprisons a little bug in it. Why? Listen to it and find the answer yourself. And while you do that, I will keep drowning in that dark empty space gently sketched with a few lines of stars, lighting a little bit of anger, little bit of disappointment or, most likely, little bit of nothingness...

Joey Beltram is of course known as a DJ / producer of grinding techno, but he also made an extraordinary ambient release in 1994. Aonox is the "Coldwave" of ambient and the trackname "Cure" is in no way coincidental: the album exhales the same melancholic atmosphere you find on legendary albums "Pornography" and "Seventeen Seconds" from The Cure.