marc osterneier was a member of the shoegaze/post-rock band should, who released a pair of albums in the late nineties. the maryland based musician is now creating experimental and ambient compositions built from skeletal piano melodies and augmented with electronics and acoustic recordings that evoke ur-post-rock legends labradford in their mi media naranja and el luxo so phase, or later period harold budd, (once he’d dropped the excessive reverb and chorus effects). percolate is filled with understated melodies played on both acoustic and rhodes piano while the electronic elements – a skeletal beat here, a pad or sample there - are used sparingly to couch the piano, not overwhelm it. and at the emotional core of the mini-album – the tracks clockwork and scratchy these elements are joined by a third – airy, melancholic, twangy guitar worthy of marc nelson, ry cooder or loren connors. and although marc’s stated aim is to create something that “evokes a melancholic stillness”, the mini-album is not monochromatic – the penultimate track continuity hints at ambient techno while closer persuasion ends on a wistful, blissful / somnambulistic note, that whilst not ecstatic, seems to hint that maybe life isn’t so bad after all.