Yet again, “Xenon District” is a vehicle for Panabrite (Norm Chambers) to show off his unique and rarefied take on sci-fi tendencies that manages to tap into the collective imagination of other worlds in far away places without a hint of cliche. It’s a talent that has led him to create a string of finely honed albums on a number of reputable labels – Digitalis, Preservation, Aguirre, etc – with an approach that swirls and contorts synthesizer figures toward the infinite. It’s not pure astral ambience, however, as bulk of the material on “Xenon District” is pinned to IDM-like beats and analog arpeggios, allowing the music to be palatable even as it seems to drift through an unknown universe. Throughout the C42 cassette Panabrite is also able to harness pure melody just as much as gleaming drones, making “Xenon District” multi-faceted in a way that synth-based albums rarely are. – Ryan Potts, Experimedia
