Vistamix is a welcome collection of some of the worthier recent works of U.K. cult artist and synthesizer iconoclast Bill Nelson. Compiled by Nelson himself, the full-length LP duplicates his six-song Chimera EP and appends two songs apiece from The Love That Whirls and Quit Dreaming and Get On the Beam.

Nelson creates shimmering cathedrals of sound with his synthesizers and drum machines; on occasion, he'll even plug in a guitar or use outside musicians. His textures are engrossing and hypnotic, his songs fluid and coherent, the whole experience rather like walking through a hall of mirrors. And it rocks, too, in its own elegantly cerebral way. Underneath it all is the sense that an even more profound realm of experience lies beyond the flesh, and Nelson would seem to want to point us in that direction. If Vistamix moves you, get ready to go hunting: there is a lot more where this came from. (RS 417)

PARKE PUTERBAUGH