Two is appropriately enough the second album containing music from three improvisational sessions Michael and Jim had in late 2002/early 2003. Like its predecessor One, the album Two contains just one track that is broken down into seamless parts - the CD jacket handily gives the start times delimiting these parts. The track is called "Life For A Thousand Years", and with part names like "Titans and Chariots" and "Imperial Standoff" it suggests big historical themes and grand panoramas. Apart from the short parts "Dub Chill 1" and "Cat Got Your Tongue?", the atmospheres tend towards the oppressive and pensive end of the spectrum. For the first few minutes in "Dub Chill 1" there is mainly a pleasant melody over an unexceptional metallic rhumba kind of rhythm that is probably a preset. Things start to get interesting in the next part, "Titans and Chariots", which lasts nearly twenty minutes. Serious minded reverbing synths seesaw along then start to give way to droney chords and brief martial but wordless vocals in the background. Further developments include Stentorian drums; at this point it's easy to visualise the rowing being kept in time for warships of ancient Greece. Keeping the mood in a heavy vein is "Subterranean" where various dark drones and bass cast a view of a deep shadowed world. Later on "Ice Palace" is a pensive aural picture of an awe inspiring structure. This part begins with loud piano refrains separated by pregnant pauses, icy synth lines then join in and the piano becomes more insistent to create a curiously discordant harmony with the synths. As this passage progresses the piano disappears and the sounds become more inviting, it's as though an ominous building now has the sun on it to reveal a harsh beauty. Improvisational sessions can be a double edged sword because they can produce some inspired music but at the same time run of the mill music is all too likely as well. While Two is enjoyable as far as it goes, I would have to say that it's eclipsed by One.