Tom Recchion's "Proscenium" is like going into a room, and there is nothing there, but this eerie, beautiful sound, that is hard to distinguish from something natural in the air, or man (person) made. All I know is I can sit at a table in this room and do some writing or something creative. The music (sound) is demanding, so you can't read a book there, but you can think through the levels of aural pleasure that is this album.I'm not sure how Tom made this record. I once in awhile hear what sounds like a piano, but is it him playing or just a sample? Listening to the album becomes a mental exercise where you describe smoke that lingers in the air, which is the graphic on the cover by the way. Or is it a spirit of some sort? Or both? Music that is abstract becomes a sound sculpture. I can almost see it, but not really. Although I feel I can walk right through it. Artists like Brian Eno has done ambient music - sometimes for a specific space and time - "Music for Airports" for example. "Proscenium" is a work that gives me a sense of place, but not time. I sense not a large space, but a room. It's interesting to read the titles which is "Entrance Music No. 1" or "Exit Music No. 1." There is also "The Mesmerized Chair" and of course, "The Haunted Laboratory." I don't have to know the titles, but it's interesting that they do convey a space or studio of some sort. Space is vague, but the emotions are not. It's a very warm album, and I feel good being contained by its sense of seduction. I have this album on vinyl as well as an MP3 (code comes with the album), and I often listen to it while writing. I like it because it doesn't free up my brain/mind but puts me in a room that I can focus in. In a practical way, I can recommend this music if you're a writer and need time to reflect on your thoughts. Or it can be music that you enter in, but you can stay inside for hours. I didn't know this, till I started writing this piece, but the proscenium is a theatrical term meaning "an arch framing the opening between the stage and the auditorium in some theaters." It's a great album. I keep hearing new things in it, and it maybe just my ears playing tricks on me, but the vinyl listening experience is different from the MP3. The medium alters same music, but space. It never ends. I like that. - Tosh Berman

Great record, but not the best of pressings. Thanks goodness it comes with a download. It's a real shame, as the whole presentation is really classy.