Pete Namlook's five-CD Air project is probably his most successful solo series, one in which he seems to break out of the mechanical confines of his electronic instruments to let in organic, fluid elements. The first Air hits one of the highest notes of the entire Fax catalogue. It launches with “Wind," a twisting electronic drone whose echoing wind chimes lend it a looming menace; “1st Impression” follows with a seed-pod shuffle. The album also boasts above-average Ambient drones in “Spiritual Invocation” and “Mystical Appearance," but it's “Je Suis Triste Et Seul Ici” that's the real killer here: an electronic lament that skips tentatively on jazz-light drumming, with bells and ethereal voices piped in from the cloisters of some remote French monastery.