LOBE HIBERNATION Swim/UK/CD The second album from Lobe (Edinburgh's Ian Hartley), "Hibernation" continues to showcase the possibilities still available for exploration in the ambient/chillout field--a genre sadly written off by many likely due to the bastardization of the style by too many pretenders. Hartley brings to mind a more downtempo and contemplative David Kristian (not knocking Kristian, but he can get a tad frenetic) in that this is the music of the machines, but tempered by a human hand and a mind that understands the value of themes and melodic elements. The revolving washes of "Hatching" bring to mind labelmates Legion Of Green Men in terms of its quality; this music can quickly degrade into a meaningless mess of sonic molasses, but Hartley doesn't fall into that trap and breathes life into the layers. The terrificly titled "Artificial Sweetner" picks up the pace just over midway through and snaps us into consciousness before settling down again for some more relaxing and introspective work to finish. Get yourself some Lobe, you'll be glad you did. --Andrew Duke Back to album reviews index