TouchXtone was born when Jim Combs advertised for sound and visual artists to collaborate on a multimedia project and Michael was one of the first people to respond. Their jam sessions worked so well that One is the first of two albums put together from three improvisational sessions. The sound is a mixture of atmospheric ambient and general EM, with a noticeable influence of EM luminaries such as Vangelis and Tangerine Dream. There's one fifty three minute track called "Alien Radio On A Moonless Night" divided into six seamless parts encompassing different styles. The first part, "Dub Chill 2", has fanfare like refrains creating an aural vision of a colourful city heralded by pipers, meanwhile a mid-tempo puttering beat and percussion plus some synth whooshing add to the atmosphere. Wave World have a knack of creating sounds that convey the idea of being on an alien world where everything is unusual but not totally out of kilter. TouchXtone have done something similar on certain parts of this album, particularly "Florian and Fauna" and "Alien Radio On A Moonless Night". Listening to the latter is like being in the wilderness of an alien planet where high pitched buzzes dance around, various echoes and vaguely animal sounds inhabit the distance, and quietly flitting or crashing sounds in the background suggest unknown creatures lurking out of sight. The slightly oppressive quality is continued into "The Dawning". Eerie reverbing synth lines slowly evolve and eventually for a brief period become icily luminous as though a winter sun has risen, only to settle back into a spooky meditation. Finally, "Age Of Desire" finishes off the album with pensive chords and a respirating kind of refrain that for me is reminiscent of at least one track on David Parsons's Himalaya. Despite the occasionally weak passage, One is a worthy achievement. Not since The Glimmer Room's Grey Mirrors have I been so enthralled by a one track album that naturally takes one through different moods. One is ideal for listening to on late nights or on dark winter afternoons when all is still. For the duration of this album the alien radio signals are out there waiting to be picked up.