We've said it before, but it bears repeating, we LOVE when we discover amazing music made by one of our customers. Gyron V is in fact our customer / pal Terje Oeveraas, from Norway, who has been quietly self-releasing limited cd-r's, very few of which it seems have made it over here, in fact if we didn't know Terje personally, odds are we wouldn't have heard or seen any of them. So thanks to Jason at Living Tapes, who's stepped in on the 10th anniversary of Gyron V, and put together a sort of greatest hits / career retrospective, gathering up tracks from the first five cd-r's as well as some compilation tracks, and thus we have Muscae Volitantes. But what does it sound like? Well, the label describes the music of Gyron V as being "fueled by folk music and new wave in equal measure", and that's not all that far off. There's definitely a serious neo-folk vibe happening here, deep dramatic vox, urgently strummed acoustic guitars, spidery melodies, a moody intimate ambience, everything echo drenched and bathed in reverb, the opener "Climbing The Blue Pavillion", reminds us a bit of country-goth crooner King Dude, while "In The Circles Of Ether" adds primitive drum machine, a motorik mechanical rhythm beneath, shimmery chords, and some dreamy falsetto vox. There's definitely a new wave feel to some of the songs, but it seems to be more in mood and melody than sound, as most of Muscae plays out like a super intimate home recorded bedroom folk, although at times, we're alternatingly reminded of Kiss The Anus Of A Black Cat, Death In June, New Model Army, Angels Of Light, Current 93, Roy Montgomery, fans of any or all of those bands will dig this stuff big time, and will most likely find themselves hunting down the original cd-r's as well. Moody and darkly psychedelic, the instrumental backdrops lush and brooding, melancholic and achingly contemplative, the vocals transforming the mood of each song, whether it's haunting and hushed, moody and brooding, or strident and majestic. Gorgeous stuff for sure. -AQUARIUS RECORDS