6 tracks. Running time 46:55 Greek musician Panos Alexiades records solo work under the moniker Red Needled Sea. Old River Blues is a limited edition work of melancholic ambience that slowly drifts the listener along on a river of tones, drones, and abstract atmospheres. Where instruments are used for producing something other than drones it's in the vein of amelodic refrains. Rumbling sighs like the breathing of a giant, or air funnelled through a building, get things going in the opening track “Save As”. Lonely notes are heard here and there as though we're walking through a cavern where unseen things lurk in the shadows. The most absorbing and evocative track is the slow burning “Under the Sea”. A subtle drone like the hum from power cables, and quiet ghostly sounds initially deep in the background, act as a continual but gradually changing and increasingly resonant backdrop. Then echoey sparse piano notes play eerie almost discordant refrains which add to the sense of a journey seeking to find the truth of hidden secrets. In the piece “Never Forget” searing refrains like highly distorted guitars wail across the soundscape as if we're party to an outpouring of grief. Falling off in intensity it continues in the same vein but at a lower level. Then closing the album is the title track “Old River Blues”. Hard edged drones mix, and occasional sonics like microphone feedback gradually fade to nothing while a wistful melody and detuned notes create a quietly contemplative aural setting. Even when the tones are on the harsh side there's something oddly beautiful about this work. The sounds are constructed and melded together in a special and absorbing way that only a few drone artists, such as Matthew Florianz, can do. Take a peaceful hour out of life for listening to Old River Blues and your reward will to be carried along to undiscovered thoughts and memories. Like a good wine it's there to be savoured.