AMG Review of Glow in the Dark Safari Set

John Bush
All Music Guide

When ISAN debuted on record in the late '90s, there was a flurry of brilliant releases in a short amount of time. The pace soon slowed down (maybe inevitably), making every release from the duo a work to be anticipated and studied with care. Glow in the Dark Safari Set not only comes after a four-year gap, but follows the brilliant Plans Drawn in Pencil, which only increased expectations. Robin Saville and Antony Ryan engage listeners from the first few seconds of the opener "Channel Ten," giving them the warm analog melodies held dear by fans of mid-'70s Cluster (Zuckerzeit, Sowiesoso), not to mention Cluster's many solo or collaborative projects involving Brian Eno, Conny Plank, and Mani Neumeier as well as Moebius and Roedelius. While ISAN structure their material along the lines of electronic pop, they're still perfectly capable of conjuring the mystery idylls and bucolic nature of '70s electronic music at its best.