More About This CD

On special offer! The fabulous release on HS Recordings. A collection of Matthew's older, classic tracks which have been re-mastered for this full length album. Without doubt one of his finest works to date, on a par with Grijsgebied which is often chosen as his best work by his fans.

Deliberately recorded at low volumes the album is at times defeaningly quiet, which serves to draw the listener in to its atmospheric web. A genuinely beautiful collection of tracks which work together to form a satisfying ensemble. True genius at work!

This is also one of the most accessible ambient albums on the HS label - those famililar with Eno's Shutov Assembly and Apollo albums will no doubt find this album a joy to listen to. It has the perfect balance of old and new ideas - never predictable but always graceful and delicate.

Recorded in spring of 2000

remastered in fall of 2004

All tracks by Matthew Florianz

The Tone T(h)ree is the 7th full length album I have made. It followed quickly after the release Sprook (album #6). Sprook was finished at the end of 1999 and took several months to make.

The Tone T(h)ree was written and recorded in march of 2000 over the course of four weekends. Sprook had taken a very long time to complete and during this period, some ideas and approaches where left unused. The common factor to these fragments was their reliance on tone clusters. Writting extra music and compiling the available material was a quick process. I had heard Brian Eno's Shutov Ensemble around the same time (my first exposure to his work) and with hindsight, this has had an influence on the creation of this album.

The finished album was released in late 2000 on Mp3.com and was the first album I released online. It caught the attention of Darren Scott of H/S Recordings who has since released all my new albums; Grijsgebied (which followed The Tone T(h)ree) and Three.

REVIEWS

MATTHEW FLORIANZ

This is the first cd from this Dutch ambient musician, of which I hadn't yet had the time to listen to. ‘The Tone T(h)ree’ is a collection of re-mastered older tracks that were recorded in spring 2000. Like the tree branches featured on the cd inlay, this is tranquil and slowly morphing Eno-esque like music that has a hypnotic and inward effect. The minimal music is a quiet pool of in-depth textural music, which flows in a timeless manner. The delicately sculptured soundscapes have a strong introspective impact that draws the listener even closer into its spacious well of sound.

‘Part 6’ is a real delight, and it is the best piece of them all. Towards the end of the cd the music becomes cloudier; a darker character with some occasional drone elements that almost crosses the boundary into experimental music. The closing title track is light and vibrant, and it returns the Eno like sounds, which seem to be one of the core inspirations of Matthew's music. Recommended.

www.shopsonic.com

Above review by Bert Strolenberg / E-dition magazine

Matthew Florianz's seventh full length album The Tone T(h)ree was original recorded in 2000 and released on mp3.com, then subsequently re-mastered a few years later for this H/S Recordings release. Like Three and Electronic Forest (the latter recorded with Erik T'Sas and Joris De Man), this album employs various tone colours in a droney ambient manner. The result is a gradually unfolding and partially beheld aural vision of tone ships moving across the soundscape trailing various wakes in the sea of sound.

Turn the volume up when playing this album because it's been deliberately recorded at a low level, otherwise it's a case of listening to mainly whispered sounds and you'll miss out on a lot of the detail. In fact, I think that headphones would provide the best way to listen and catch all the wispy subtleties of the music.

Beginning the album is 'three tone', the shortest track at just under two minutes it has an ominous quality as an amorphous eerie drone comes over the sonic horizon quickly followed by visceral sounds like alien craft flying low overheard. The longest track 'part 5' starts off with a slightly industrial and clouded rumbling and vague hints of muffled voices. Further in an organ like drone reminiscent of that on Pink Floyd's 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond' starts up and is accompanied by higher pitched colouring weaving around the main drone. The overall sonic effect has some similarity to Exuviae's piece 'Silencia'.

In the track 'part six' there's a bit more going on. For the early part of this piece we hear alien squiggly sounds over the top of resonating and sometimes brooding drones. As the piece progresses the squiggly aspects become subdued, and all the sounds gradually fade away.

One needs patience to appreciate The Tone T(h)ree; the ideal listening environment has got to be a darkened quiet room. For me this album consolidates Matthew's position as one of the best ambient artists around who utilises drone elements. What, in my opinion, sets Matthew's music apart from that by most other ambient/drone practitioners is how he masterfully blends tones with a nuanced grace to form haunting musical vistas. This is among the best albums I've heard so far this year and is highly recommended.

Dene Bebbington - Wind and Wire

I received Matthew Florianz 'The Tone Three' today. Luckily it was

Saturday and I had some time to listen to the album in it's entirety.

Those who are fans of Florianz' work under the Liquid Morphine label will be impressed with one surprise. This album is extremely low in volume. The listening session was done in a quiet room with no distractions.

First thoughts are that this sounds like his earlier works. And that's because they are actually re-mastered earlier works. The familiar atmosphere painted itself throughout my bedroom. The coldness of Biosphere mixed with faintly warm feeling makes for a rather cool feeling sound. As I felt my stresses flow out of my body there was not a total release of this. Some uneasiness was kept in the music to keep the listener grounded.

Sound quality is excellent for what it is. The album is pressed and painted with artwork which looks like tree branches with no leaves. Thinking they were gaian synapses made the listening experience all that more enjoyable.

I will be listening to this again.

bullethead

http://www.darkambient.org