more.manic.than.ever.before.the.thunderous.weight. of.bass.pedal.and.sharrock.scratchiness.compresses. and.etches.your.lobes.until.all.you.know.you.know.is. a.gush.of.cranial.vortex.spewing.your.preconceptions.of. music.over.the.sidewalk.and.you.are.left.with.the.glaring. realisation.that.there.are.alternative.musical.forms.still. to.be.explored.and.you.must.cry.with.tears.of.pleasure.at.your. rebirth

As with their New Orbits: Music from another zone (read review), Present Tense have again produced something chaotic and anarchic, and equally sublime and beautiful.

Present Tense are ... Marco Anderson (rippling earthquakes like Narada): drums, Tibetan bowls, percussion, Reaktor loops, sonic landscapes. Philip Gibbs (gutter grunge like Sharrock): fretless electric guitar, Fender Stratocaster. Ben Williams (whispered soliloquies like Earland): synthesisers and sequencer. Paul Dunmall (lilting discursion like Liebman): tenor and soprano saxes.

Their music is an emergent property of their ensemble. Each member contributes so much, yet the whole is still greater than the sum of the parts. For example, 'texture' emerges as a seemingly extraneous characteristic of a cake recipe, but with Present Tense you can have your cake and eat it.