Soma Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Soma regular SLV is the epitome of techno cool; a producer who eschews press coverage and instead just serves up regular musical missives from his East Berlin studio. "Berlin: A Portrait In Music" is the shadowy producer's second full-length outing following last year's largely club-focused "Origin of Light" on Virgo. It has a very different feel to its predecessor, with SLV offering up a series of atmospheric ambient cuts built around evocative field recordings, gentle melodies, ghostly chords, crackling aural textures and occasional delay-laden percussion hits. While there is some contemplative positivity - see the impeccable sound design of "Forest Voices" and Jonny Nash style bliss of "Mirage" - the majority of the album is surprisingly poignant and melancholic, with SLV embracing the solitude and loneliness sometimes associated with living in a major European city.