You dancin'?
The brainchild of Bernard Emmanuel Farley Jr, 'Nebulae' is a mix of drum and bass, techno, ambient chill out and a few other styles that probably don't have a name attached to them yet!
Exclusively instrumental it's not necessarily an album you would sit down to listen to, more of an album to accompany whatever it is you are doing, although I suspect Mr.Farley would be happy if that thing were dancing! Although the percussion side is to the fore throughout it is seldom overpowering and it's that aspect that gives the feel of a more chilled out album. The exception to this being 'Approaching Skyline' where the beat is too harsh and becomes irritating. Elsewhere melodies and lilting ambient synths are always present and make the majority of the songs accessible.
Whilst it does have a very contemporary feel it isn't far enough removed from much of the ambient trance put out in the early 90's by bands such as Astralasia to be considered ground breaking. By the time we reach 'Nouvelle Forme' the relentless beats do start to become a little tiring so it's a welcome break that comes with the short but ambient 'Window Breeze', which leads into one of the better tracks 'Snow'. This has more of a dub bass feel and a slower rhythm that allows it to work on several levels at once, just the sort of song you want to put on when you get back from the club.
'Bernard's Song' has more of a Kraftwerk feel about it but at over five minutes in length it never really goes anywhere or does anything. Overall that's a problem with the album as a whole, certainly when you're in the mood for dancing and perhaps some chemical assistance this is not a problem, but as a body of work to listen to for pleasure alone it's not enough.