2005 release  ** "The glitch isn't going to go away. Despite occasional predictions by those in the electronic community that the musical devices of tiny clicks, pops and 'stuck CD' effects - pioneered by the likes of Autechre, Matmos, Fennesz, Raster-Noton and Oval - are just a passing trend, these techniques seem to have ensconced themselves as an established feature of the musical landscape. Perhaps one reason for the longevity of these software-driven effects is that they provide an extremely effective bridge between abstract electronica (which through the nineties tended to be instrumental) and the human voice. By 'glitching', cutting the voice into fragments so as to treat it effectively as an electronic instrument in its own right, it can be blended into the computer soundscapes very naturally: witness the work with vocalists of Herbert, Kieran Hebden, Funkstörung and Fennesz (whose The End Of Europe with David Sylvian is a masterclass in how extreme electronics can perfectly become part of the structure of a timeless song), or the crazed cut-up techno-soul of Jamie Lidell's live sets. The closest point of comparison for laptop-and-vocals duo Aoki Takamasa and Tujiko Noriko is probably Björk’s work with Matmos on her Vespertine album (although minus the harps and other acoustic instruments). 28 certainly shares a sense of touching intimacy and delicacy with that album, and just like it, the tumbling patterns of clicks and hisses naturally form part of the songs, and cut-ups of Noriko's voice blend with her relatively untreated meandering lead vocals. Her voice is much smoother and less mannered than Ms Gudmundsdottir's, though, so her vocals - mostly sung in Japanese - form more of a textural function. The mood is contemplative throughout: on the deeply lovely Doki Doki Last Night, the sparse rhythm repeatedly pauses on a rising hiss sound, a dissipated chord hangs in the air, and Noriko repeats the phrase (in English) ‘last night I was...’, the whole thing combining to give a sense of searching for a memory, of something on the tip of the tongue. Despite this thoughtful, almost tentative approach, the whole album exudes confidence. There is no sense of randomness to the laptop effects as can so often be the case in glitch-based music; every crackle and voice fragment seems to be placed as carefully as any of the more traditionally 'musical' elements. Although there are no acoustic instruments apparent in the sound, this is still a very organic-sounding album, with all the sounds extremely warm, rich and somehow non-synthetic and the rhythms and melodies having a feel of being played rather than programmed. Even when incongruous elements appear, like the crashing slowed-down breakbeat and male voice choir which sweep into the end section of When The Night Comes. It's a shame that the Japanese vocals and glitch techniques place this CD in the realm of the 'exotic' or 'weird' for many people; given a chance most people could not help but be seduced by the truly beautiful newness and paradoxical fragility and strength of these songs, which soar miles above 99% of standard anodyne 'chillout' music. A real balm for the mind."