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The distinctions between modern/contemporary classical and the countless offerings that appear under the catch-all "ambient" are increasingly difficult to identify without a few helpful liner note or two. I suppose someone with a formal musical education could probably feign some deeper appreciation for the notational correctness in the former, or so I imagine, but not I. On the level of sonic expression and its recorded capture and manipulation, there does seem to be a shared interest in the arrhythmic, for whatever reason. I guess that how each artist in their respective genre ended up choosing that path probably says a great deal about the genealogy of their own concept of music. Enter Olga Anna Markowska, one of those classically trained instrumentalists who has crafted an elegant, and at times quite moving, ambient album, ISKRA, composed of electronics, cello, zither, and the like. In true classical fashion, ISKRA is essentially a narrative journey divided into 10 individual compositions, each with their own emphasis on a particular time of the day, from dawn until dusk