I`ll confess that I had to look the word Sisyphean up – unfamiliar with the myth of Sisyphus, the proud king forced for eternity to roll a rock up a hill, only to watch it roll back down again. A cipher for humankind’s struggles, and used by the erudite to describe an impossible, incompletable task. The pursuit of perfection is an often cited example, however in the context of Ordos MK.0`s new album it applies to our day-to-day battles with stress and anxiety. 

This 50 minute suite, of 14 tracks, is the work of producer / musician, Alex Mackellar. As its title suggests this fresh foray is intended as a tool, a weapon, to be used in the war against worry, and the search for serenity. A musical means of escape. The second part in a planned trilogy, the seeds of which were sown 2014, the set draws specifically on the timeless “ambient techno” of Biosphere and Global Communications, Hiroshi Yoshimura`s kankyo ongaku, and the new age of Pauline Anna Strom. A mixture of synths and samples. Seabirds, and field recorded bodies of water – tides turning, lapping waves and crashing surf – raindrops and passing storms, add organic touches to pieces whose titles sound like those of paintings, or cinematic cues: Return To The Coast, Across Icy Peaks, Wind Blows Through The Sea Caves. 

Into The Depths Of Moonside Lake, for example, bubbles, submerged in sub-bass and gentle percussion. A journey, a little Jon Hassell-like. Aldrich`s Dream Of The Deep is sublime, sonically shining. A calm washed by warm rushes. As if swimming with fishes, watching light play on the colourful scales of the occupants of a rainbow reef. Part Cluster`s pastoral kosmische, Part Iasos` synthesized celestial sighs, Odyssey cleverly counterpoints ringing repeats. Referencing `80s sci-fi scores, while doubling as an outtake from John Beltran`s Ten Days Of Blue, or Detroit Escalator Co.`s classic, Black Buildings. Overgrown Machinery In A Haunted Forest is gated, appropriately ghostly and supernatural. Lighthouse Enshrouded By Fog might just be an homage to John Carpenter. 

Ordos MK.0 / Sisyphean Audio Therapy 2 can be ordered directly from Bandcamp.