Recorded live during a 2011 sleep concert, Sphäre Sechs’ Tiefschlaf is a deep and slightly dark hour-long drift constructed by Martin Stürtzer, who also records as Phelios, and Christian Stritzel. Although divided into six “phases,” the disc slips quietly along, intermingling drone structures playing across one another in slow-motion patterns that become hypnotic in very short order. This is very much a headphones-on, lay-in-the-dark disc, certain to paint wide mental vistas as your mind is coaxed deeper into relaxation. Overnight listening at low volume is also recommended. (Keep that dream journal handy.) Stürtzer and Stritzel do an amazing job of keeping a shadowy edge in play, a constant feel that something is moving or waiting just behind the fog of sound, but never letting it become distracting. This drift is in constant motion and each shift in tone reconfigures the landscape just slightly. A superb pure-ambient work that stands up to close listening and excels in a passive-listening atmosphere.

Available from Malignant Records.