Well, I must say this is an album I was not expecting to see, let alone one I was expecting to blow me away. COH's Above Air is possibly the most beautiful album of 2006, thus far. Of course, that title will undoubtedly be stolen when Tor Lundvall's upcoming full-length is released. COH is the musical brainchild of Coil member Ivan Pavlov. This bizarre Russian musician is one of the most unique experimental electronic musicians of late. Taking hints from acts such as Oval in their "ambient glitchcore" genre, Pavlov has in the past created such pieces that defy all preconceptions of the emotion that can be evoked by a CD skipping. If you don't understand what I mean, seek out his album Mask of Birth, at all costs. With Above Air, COH harnesses that power of emotion and infuses it with a spacial feeling of utter solitude. However, this is not necessarily the lonely depressing solitude we too often find in music today. He creates such an atmosphere that the listener is taken into the stratosphere, isolated from all but the very base structure of our universe. This is far and away the most emotional --not to mention least agressive (most likely due to the dedication of the disc to fallen hero John Balance...more on him later)-- album he has released in his career. Building upon his tendency for minimalist percussion undertones, COH utilizes the repetition of what I can only describe as "metallic digital doorknocking", sparse muted synths, and a sound reminiscent of low bitrate mp3s in such a way that the aformention elements are actually entertaining for seven minutes. This album will suck you in to a very special place, a place that you're sure you have visited, but you can't quite put your finger on when or where. This album is truly magical. Cheers to you Mr. Pavlov.