Markus Guentner

Audio Island is an offering of various sumptuous house tunes en par with the music of Swayzak and Theorem, deep, nocturnal and intense. This CD opens and concludes with the sound of rain, only on the last track there is a somewhat cheesy sample of the archenemy death scene from Bladerunner. On the other hand, the tracks themselves are not so cheesy, Guentner tends to favour a techy approach as opposed to just pure house. The tracks "Lost Paradise,” "Separate Digits” and "Sunset” are all deliciously dreamlike, tending to start off slow then evoking movement with well crafted rhythms. Another notable track is "Such a Shame” with Dana Grey on vocals, which is about the bitterness that occurs in post relationship break-ups; although contrasting with the up-beat tempo of the song. Markus Guentner has some fine, deep house tunes, if not a little restrained but good for those who like lots of atmosphere in their house music.