Released around the same time as Soundzero (and I mean "around": a couple of months before it in Europe, and a couple of months after in America), [wimpLink albumId="241502528"]The Rooms[/wimpLink] establishes [wimpLink artistId="4205250"]Philip Clemo[/wimpLink] as a producer first, a composer and guitarist second. Still an unknown name outside a small circle, and a musician's musician, [wimpLink artistId="4205250"]Clemo[/wimpLink] proves to be the textural, detail-driven type. This album consists of a smooth-segueing sequence of nine ambient-world-fusion-jazz pieces featuring 22 guest musicians, among whom are ethnic flute player [wimpLink artistId="3998767"]Clive Bell[/wimpLink], [wimpLink artistId="3510426"]Gong[/wimpLink]-family saxman [wimpLink artistId="4379487"]Theo Travis[/wimpLink], pedal steel guitarist [wimpLink artistId="34540"]B.J. Cole[/wimpLink], and a host of string players. The first and longest track on the album, "The Place," has a strong affinity with [wimpLink artistId="3521155"]the Cinematic Orchestra[/wimpLink], and not only because the music is assembled out of separately recorded contributions. It's the same electro-jazz mood with a soft ecstatic build-up. Elsewhere, the music gets a bit jazzier at times, a little spacier at others, but [wimpLink albumId="241502528"]The Rooms[/wimpLink] basically falls alongside the [wimpLink artistId="3521155"]Cinematic Orchestra[/wimpLink]/[wimpLink artistId="20392"]Jaga Jazzist[/wimpLink] continuum. "The Shifting Patterns of Sunlight" and "Taking a Hand (In the Company of Angels)" (the latter featuring singer Chloë Goodchild) provide the other highlights, but the album doesn't have a single dull moment, although you must be prepared for long stretches of quiet soundworking and slow developments. Though the work of a guitarist, first and foremost, this album doesn't put the guitar to the fore, the instrument being worked into the sonic tapestry as only one of several strands. Despite the above references, [wimpLink artistId="4205250"]Clemo[/wimpLink] goes his own route, creating a highly personal form of spacy electro-world-jazz, and the results are nothing short of beautiful, with a mesmerizing quality that will have you coming back for more. ~ François Couture