Technicolor Skies

It's tough to pin a genre on the music made by Technicolor Skies (aka Zachary Martin). Distance is most like a fusion of ambient and old-school techno, with a sprinkling of trance technique to balance it. Playing with rhythm and noise, mashing trance-like buildups with unusual syncopated beats, Martin creates an experiment in sound. Sometimes that experiment works flawlessly, and sometimes the lack of focus can be a hindrance. Still, the album gets stronger as you listen; "The Last Echo" features sweeping washes of ambient sound with sudden drop-ins of quick hi-hats and sweet, meandering keys and piano lines. "Nebula" is reminiscent of Trent Reznor's work on Ghosts, swimming with eerie, ambient, vibrating tones. The wistfully appealing album wraps up with "The Time Is Now," wherein the beat and bass distortion carry a spooky edge while the plaintive key melodies layered over the top hone that edge. The overall effect gives the track an almost fatalistic mood.