Octopus - Octopus 2 FLAC

A album I neglected until 2017. Finally picked it up 21yrs(+) later after being pleasantly impressed with Octopus's more ambient-abstract debut album released back in 95, which I only bought due to curiosity in 2017. Have previously ignored all Octopus albums for years due to the low-ish and few ratings here on Discogs, and due to the lack of reviews on any of the albums, plus with no samples available! I finally ended-up buying all 3 of them and was very pleasantly surprised with all 3 albums. Even the weakest of the 3, the debut, still captivates with its more abstract-ambient style. Wasn't really expecting much from O2, again due to its average mixed ratings. But finally giving it a listen, years since its release, I was truly immersed and thoroughly absorbed into its deep subversive moods and interesting atmospheres that makes O2 a great listen for chilling, background music, or for both. In ways I would relate this album to other higher discogs rated Fax albums, suchs as: Softcore(PS), Create(PW), Modula Green(PS), Orange(PW). Hemisphere(PS); as O2 certainly brings moments, elements, moods and atmospheres that do reminded me of them!!

Best listened in a quiet space for a better experience due to the subtle sounds and patterns that swirl around in the background

O2 is experimental in minimal electronic music, and quiet ambient, yet innovative in its ways too. Music and ambient gel and pace well together even with its somewhat eccentric, but interesting, use of experimental sounds that are abstract-alien but can also be familiar and recognised. Each track is a separate piece, though blend and semi-connect, giving the album an engaging continuous feel with a sense of development and progression as the album plays along. At certain points Create/Hemisphere(Fax PK) like moods and atmosphere can be felt as O2's urban sound touches emerge from the beatless ambient-waves. Within the urban-space ambient and minimalistic style of techno, flutters and twitches of subtle sonic detail and even organic, sometimes surreal, elements bubble and cascades within the quiet ambient and minimalist music. These sounds, effects, textures add a swirling sound pool that's quiet immersive with its organic synthetic feel that add to O2's sound uniqueness. A good portion of minimal drum-machine and low-key techno adds and builds interesting development to the ambient, minimal in style, but effective hooking you into its techno patterns that might remind you of ∅ (Mika Tapio Vainio RIP) style of minimalist downtempo techno. The albums experimental changing shifting, but connected, flowing moods and atmospheres keep you hooked with interest as O2's complexity of sounds, effects, and minimal techno emerge from the ambient, and vice versa, changing and shifting the albums vistas that bring a mix of deep, spacey, mind-altering, calming, dark, and chill-out moments that somehow can provoke the listener unknowingly into a mind thinking state! Even the interesting alien experimental bass hum, not quite techno, not quite downtempo, adds a dense minimal dub drone tone effect to tracks 1, 8, and 9; taking you into a more abstract dark-ish zone, yet still fits in nicely with the rest of the albums mostly less darker areas. For me the best is left towards the end with its excellent deep final last 17min track delivering a very ambient-minimal techno downtempo listen with a style that probably wouldn't feel out of place from Atom Heart's classic ambient-techno Fax 'Softcore' album.

As a album O2 is certainly a unique interesting listen from start to finnish that has sadly become a underrated, forgotten, lost, and pricey Fax album. This sadly remains a true undiscovered gem, that for me, certainly deserves more recognition and praise for its originality!