Jon Porras - Achlys [Shelter Press - 2025]The instrumentation on Jon Porras' Achlys is hard to pick out, and perhaps that is intentional. Whether guitars or soft synths, the sound sources on this ambient work are kind of all background, with little fury or pathos--very few lead lines or licks. That is the point of this kind of music, at least according to its chief architect, Brian Eno. The lack of counter point and inherent conflict was certainly welcome then, and maybe still is, too. Much on Achlys sounds like a refinement of Eno's early ambient works, specifically Ambient 1 (Music for Airports), the soundtrack to ambivalence. The transitioning and mixing of that seminal work are revived in Porras' hands, smoothing shifts between tracks, eight in all. The presence of some manner of hand is present, but the usual attack of strings is washed under electronic synthesis. As a whole, the tracks seem to accumulate, but not in progression, layering complexity in order to arrive at some well-formed mass. Rather, on pieces like the aptly named "Sea Storm", individual parts become indistinguishable, looped washes breaking over lower frequencies, a convergence of sorts. Later, "Holodiscus" returns us to a clearly discernible guitar refrain, promising some semblance of harmony beneath the quiet swarm. Why does this recognizability suddenly rear its head? No clue, but it pierces the atmosphere that was carefully collected before it. Is that a value of Achlys? That depends on who happens to be paying attention.
Fans of quiet and slow-moving ambient will get a good winter companion here. Others may lose their way in the ambient wilderness, which seems to go on forever these days    Colin Lang
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