Bearpark and Ostler were (and maybe still are) quite a formidable improv team on a good night, so I am pleased that some recordings of the nights when they absolutely slayed will now delight some fresh ears. When they are at their best, Darkroom have hive mind-level chemistry and damn near singular talents for slow-building majesty, nuance, and lightness of touch. Beyond that, this is some of the best contemporary space music that I've encountered …

- Anthony D'Amico
Read the full review here.

Tags: Fallout 4

Something to open our nights to infinite energy. A magnificent inspired record.

- Inactuelles
Translated from the French by Google
Read the original here.

Tags: Fallout 4

And Fallout 4 (Expert Sleepers, August 28), the third current release on Ostler's label, by his duo Darkroom, which has been active since the early '90s and includes guitarist Michael Bearpark, is no less sonically refined and generous. With a slant towards herb, prog and cosmic music, which is typical for the project. So humming analog synthesizers, gentle motor skills and the ubiquitous sound of an E-Bow.

- Groove
Translated from the German by Google
Read the original here.

Tags: Fallout 4

The fascination is there immediately when a photo of Carl Glover adorns the cover. The artist is known for his recordings of futuristic looking buildings and constructions, mostly used to accompany progressive or electronic music. In Darkroom 's «Fallout 4» , this underscores the underlying music, which moves from slow and deliberate to driving and stirring. Three long tracks, conceived and recorded by Michael Bearpark and Andrew Ostler - guitars and modular synthesizers as the fourth part of a trilogy.

The dark mood makes the music on "Fallout 4" attractive, you listen with pricked ears how patterns and beats unfold over a long period of time. At 15 minutes, "Tuesdays Ghost" is the shortest piece on the record and knows how to shine with surfaces and textures at the end. In the middle excursion «Qaanaaq (Parts 1 & 2)» there are darkroom guitars and drum sounds from the laptop, circling and spurring each other on. You are definitely ready for this, as "It's Clear From The Air" elegantly introduces all the elements at the beginning.

Sometimes you weigh yourself in relaxed security, then again the sounds of Darkroom are rousing. For almost an hour on this album you have the opportunity to immerse yourself in a closed and very well thought-out world of sound that seems improvised and fixed at the same time. The pieces seem to stretch out forever without losing sight of the goal. If radioactive fallout were so enjoyable, we would only build nuclear power plants and let them disintegrate.

- ARTNOIR - Musik Magazin
Translated from the German by Google
Read the original here.

Tags: Fallout 4

This UK-based duo of guitarist Michael Bearpark and electronics-whiz and horn player Andrew Ostler [who also runs Expert Sleepers] has released several albums since forming in the late 90s and their current release is an epic one, consisting of over 90 minutes of wonderful reflective electro-acoustic ambience that’s warm and full of movement, with additional guitar provided by Jon Durant and Bill Walker. Some of the music was recorded remotely, but everything sounds together and well thought-out. The band also re-purposed previous live recordings as the basis for new music and added additional instrumentation and new themes. While some of the pieces feel mournful, nothing feels hopeless which makes this release especially appropriate for our time.

- Tom Ojendyk, Waveform Magazine
Read the full review here.

Tags: The Last Sense to Fade