Icecake -- ...an ambient extraction

Robert Kaminek Jr. (aka. Icecake) is at it again.
I was lucky enough to get a pre-release of the new CD "...an ambient extraction",
and loved it! With use of spoken word type vocals on a few of the tracks and the
more guitar driven core of each song, this CD is even more accessible than his
first CD "...an ambient experience". Emotion drips off such songs as Version,
Mellows, and Pour Vous Deux, while a distant eeriness transports you through
space, time, and the fascinating and often terrifying world of the subconscious on
tracks like Pierce Point Stop, South Side Line and My Normal State. I was a big
fan of Icecake's first CD, but I love this sophomore release even more. I highly
suggest you add "...an ambient extraction" to your collection.

WYNTERSKYY

Icecake
...An Ambient Extraction

One-man ambient music machine Robert Kaminek is an accomplished film and television scorer
but his passion for evocative music construction is most evident in his work under the Icecake
banner. His latest work, ...An Ambient Extraction, displays plenty of Kaminek's love of all things
Eno, from the master's gentle background ambience ("Version") to a more aggressively forceful
sonic pressence (the buzzy guitar drone of "Dress, Detch, Ivory Train," the galloping shimmer of
"Pierce Point Stop, South Side Line") to found/composed and manipulated sound bites ("A Last
Supper") to all of the above sprinkled with elements of its twisted song craft ("My Normal State").
Although there are moments of avantish dissonance in Kaminek's work, it's never distracting in a
sound-for-sound's-sake kind of way and, like the best of Eno's long and illustrious catalog,
Icecake proves to be both soothing and engaging simultaneously.

AMPLIFIER MAGAZINE

Icecake "...an ambient extraction"

     ...classified between progressive psychedelia and ambient music, between pop symphonic and poppedelia,
resonant effects and trance-hypnotic atmospheres; certainly this music has a dark glamour and succeeds to relax
the mind and the body and has a resonant sort of column for a hypothetical film of science fiction. "Version" and
"Pierce Point Stop, South Side Line" possess a spacious and symphonic sound that returns to the Pink Floyd of
"Atom Heart Mother " and "Meddle" thanks to the ethereal and narcoleptic sound ruler from relaxing resonant
effects while "Dress, Detach, Ivory Train" is a weird piece led by an effective lower part in slow and full first of
effects. Still "Pepper Clouds" with its guitar from the light psychedelic touch and "Pour Vous Deux" from the
exciting smoke blues. A CD that laxity infuses yourselves and leaves yourselves in an almost ecstatic trance.

THE ROCKTHRONE -- (translated from Italian)

ICECAKE. An Ambient Extraction. Supple Records. SRCD 1013

Not everyone will accept the opening track A Last Supper with its main reliance on the spoken
word albeit with electronic manipulation. The rest of the tracks by New Yorker Robert J. Kaminek Jr.
are described as a spatial, ambient, space-rock project. The second track seems to be quite
familiar with its beautifully rounded guitar riff. I found myself being strangely drawn to Version.
Following on is Dress, Detach, Ivory Train which is an unusual title but so is the instrumental music,
but I have to admit it's very catchy mainly due to a superb bass line. Pepper Clouds starts as
though its going to be an exceptionally moody piece, but after about a minute, the track suddenly
becomes a lot lighter with plenty of reverb on the guitars and a non standard beat. The most
appealing is the final track My Normal State, with a few spoken phrases and understated guitar
riff on a mellow backdrop provides an infectious instrumental that needs to be repeated. A total
of eight tracks appear on this CD. Although labelled An Ambient Extraction, it contains a lot of
electric guitar work and so its a little different from the norm, but apart from the strangeness of
the opening track, I found the more I played, the more I liked. There is just something that makes
the differences between ordinary and appealing and Icecake definitely fit into the latter category.

MODERN-DANCE   The A-Z Music Review Magazine