Mike Martin aka Indidginus has been involved in electronic music for a good ten years or more aside from his didgeridoo playing. Having worked on several soundtracks for TV commercials as well as other film related work he has somehow found time to complete a full length, somewhat ambient, down-tempo electronica album that has a slight psychedelic slant to it. I say slight because the emphasis is very much on easy, smooth listening here. Somehow Mike manages to combine a host of world sounds with robotic synthy squelches and Arabic type melodies that come together quite cohesively. Its certainly a little left of centre, and as such is fitting that he should release Align on Microdot Records who are no strangers to serving up something different.
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\"As the name implies, Indidginus is a look into foreign cultures where the sounds are only local to those inhabitants of the region. Michael Martin is Indidginus and he resides in Cape Town where the land of Africa meets the sea on its southern shore. South Africa is a melting pot influenced by many cultures from around the globe. So too is the work of Indidginus. Martin pulls together an expression of the world\'s music, blending electronic beats amongst the sounds of his personal didgeridoo. Foreign instruments and languages work to transport his modern medium of electronic music. On Align, you will find raw beats that graduate to the school of the old world with sounds and instruments dominated by ceremonial rhythms.

Martin has been creating music for several years now. It began with a love of the didg and a personal trip to Tanzania where the idea burst to incorporate his instrument into danceable music. His journey into electronica transformed into his solo work as Indidginus. Along his musical voyage he collaborates with Matt Hillier of Ishq on a project entitled Open System. Ishq records on the international Interchill Records, a location not unsuitable for Indidginus given the overwhelming influences of organic music. The style of Indidginus and Ishq meld together beautifully and their collaborative work can be heard on several tracks of Align.

On \'Doors to the Deathless\' we hear Martin\'s experimentation of incorporating the didg into electronic music. Initially, this track slowly starts with chants and ambient soundscapes that build to a discernible rhythm. An organ begins and makes it feel like some truly religious experience. The didg is added for complexity in subtle waves.

On \'Machu\', Martin collaborates with Josh Hawks and they bring an ethnic beat of maybe some Mayan or South American culture. It is a slow beat raised with an interesting base line and occasional funky, twisted noises. Some rolling synths along with a traditional morphed flute transport this track to a distant, remote village unknown to many outsiders. You can hear the influence of another culture as the electronica carries this historic music to a new age.

Off we go to the Indian continent on \'Chakrasonic\'. Not unlike the Hindustani or Qawalli, \'Chakrasonic\' drives home the sounds of traditional Indian or Pakistani music as we hear a male vocal wash over the beats. The rhythm is upbeat with distorted sounds that carry a curious connection to some of the more traditional sounds of this regional style of music.

The incorporation of worldly music into electronica is nothing new and in fact, it has been going on for some time. But as time goes on, one occasionally finds an interesting twist where the ethnic sounds are changed and modernized in an entirely new and refreshing way. For Indidginus, Align solidly falls into this category.\"

www.calmscape.com
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Align is a genre defying, funkydelic, shapeshifting disc of wonders. Continuously moving and ever changing, there is a feeling of listening to some future intergalactic DJ mixing together an off-air disc for his trip to Earth. Indeed beneath the vast range of stylisms and samples and atmospherics, there is an underlying  unity, somewhat of a story, a voyage into the essence of Earth, in all its tribal coherance and industrial dissonance. In its seemingly abrupt yet retrospectively fluid and necessary transitions, there is an organic growth of sonic character and understanding.

All the tracks on this CD are good. Some are great. I'd imagine that the selections I have from this set are going to be wildly different from the ones that another person would choose, so strong is the diversity of its character. I'm a sucker for atmospherics, and having heard Cy and New Horizon, I'd say those are my picks, and I'm greatly looking forward to the upcoming Open System collaboration, and of course whatever else Martin has up his sleeve...

Dynamic and inviting, this is a greatly worthwhile communication from an active mind.
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