Reviews:

Electroambient Space (USA) » Review of Guided Relaxation for Birth by Phil Derby:

"Although there is relaxing ambient and new age music here, the main purpose of this disc is guided visualizations for birth. The first four tracks feature Robyn Sheldon talking the listener through her self-described "avant garde birthing process". Sheldon has a pleasant, relaxing voice. The music is repeated on the last four tracks without the vocals, and my review will focus on that. The music is more about soothing textures than structured melodic compositions. Each of the four tracks runs about ten minutes, allowing space to breathe. Dawn is very soothing, with birds, warm gentle synth sounds, and light, sparse piano. The calm, reflective music creates an extremely comfortable listening environment. Daylight features gently lapping waves and a shimmering brighter timbre. Twilight is for fans of that time of day, not the vampire movie franchise, with crickets and soft atmospheric sounds. Night is the only track with any discernible rhythm, a distant, two-beat phrase that adds just a slight tribal touch. Michael Martin, the man behind Indidginus, is quite adept at building soothing soundscapes. Apparently this sound is not his norm, as sound samples from his other albums, from funky to psytrance, will attest. I'd like to hear him do a full album of relaxing sounds like this."

Revolve Magazine (UK) » Review of Feast or Famine by DJ Photon:

"Every now & then a label sends Revolve a real gem which is off-the-wall, original & displays imagination & incredible musicianship. This is one of those. 130-138bpm but more psychedelic than progressive. An artist album from South Africa by Michael Martin with its funky & electronically interpreted African rhythms which bounce with vitality like on Tokalosh or Lotus Eaters with the sampled singers & sweeping OMD-like 80s chords. The CD finishes with a collaboration with Pablo Sandoz: Colin Angus from The Shamen & Matt Catt. Amazing with its very "conscious" Terence McKenna samples. Highly recommended for any music lovers."

BPM Magazine (SA) » Review of Feast or Famine by Josh:

"Michael Martin has been playing at festivals for years now, many of them being in our mother city, making the name Indidginus well renowned in our local psytrance scene. Following his downtempo album Align on the same label, he now brings us this progressive treat filled with funky rhythms and fun melodies. Ranging from 130 to 139 bpm and finishing off with a down tempo track, these tunes project a positive energy that's playfully psychedelic and extremely groovy. His signature sound can be best described as sharp kicks, electrifying bass lines and crystalline voice samples with added local flavour. Containing anthems and fillers, Feast or Famine provides an experience that is equally suitable for home listening and dance floors."

PsyMusic (UK) » Review of Feast or Famine by Full Lotus:

"Indidginus is South African producer Michael Martin who has been actively making music in the scene since 2001 and playing didgeridoo since 1996. Feast or Famine is his second full length release and it's a colourful journey into the down tempo side of psychedelic music with a unique Indidginus twist. Released at the end of 2008 on Micro Dot music from Cape Town, this is one hell of a fun album that can only be described, in my opinion, as accomplished clean sounding groovadelic music. Kicking off with a reworking of the classic Funky Town, the tunes take in a range of influences from ethnic sounds through to electro in places and beyond. It has an infectious funky feel permeating the tracks and keeps you on tenterhooks eagerly awaiting the next sound or groove and ensures that those feet keep on tapping away furiously. This has quality written all over it and is as refreshing as it is original. With the tracks ranging in speed from 113 to 139 bpm, this album is excellent sunshine music that should not be restricted to just the global psychedelic trance scene but should go and infect the rest of the global electronic dance scene. The album is a veritable feast, with the famine coming only when it ends."

Review of Feast or Famine by Axis Mundi (USA):

"Hailing from the South African hub of Cape Town, UK artist Michael Martin, known as Indidginus, has been making waves and dancefloor shakers for over a decade. For even longer, Michael has been an avid musician and multi instrumentalist, and has made quite a name for himself across many genres and industries of music, having played alongside, and collaborated with, many respected artists, from the legends OOOD and The Orb to Ishq and Eat Static. Michael has the talent, experience and drive to make his recent release, Feast or Famine, a dancefloor booster built also to be enjoyed in more relaxed settings as well. With professionally expert mastering by Colin Bennun of OOOD notoriety, Indidginus has obviously put great amounts of effort and time into his collection of musical creations, and the result is remarkably noteworthy. Feast or Famine, simply put, is a masterful collection of ten solidly arranged masterpieces displaying unique talent found nowhere else on Earth, which will be evidenced to the listener from the first rotation in your players ever onward.

Funky Town » Indidginus launches the listener straight into a mojo-filled, old-timey disco groove in his cleverly appealing remake of the classic anthem Funky Town. His unique take on this hit is a perspective refreshing journey into the soul of funk interpreted through the lens of 21st-century audio synthesis and digitalism.

Tau Ceti » A haunting, cybernetic zen-approaching into curtains the entryway into a realm of groove. Bass as ripe as a red apple pumps out foundations of crisp, percussive rhythm hits and eerily bobbling melody and pad arrangements. Touches of ancient tribalism collide with futuristic musical technology and innovative technique.

Tokalosh » Bouncy ethnic percussion accompanies thick, key-changing basslines at the outset, and as the sound progresses, more and more pleasing layers filter in. Soothing washes of pads and glitchy foreground rhythms wend their way about the soundscape, with a surprise twist of moods midway through.

Law of One » Indidginus picks up the pace with this nighttime full on stomper which ressurects the old school Ajuna sound with acidic innovation. Breakbeat basslines timed by four on the floor kickdrums keep the flow moving with serpentine precision. Between the percussive elements and Indian raga vocals, Law of One imparts unmistakable feelings of sound come to life.

Lotus Eaters » This funktastic thumper serves up heaping servings of churning, warm bass, kinetic kickdrums and srisp, slapping snares. With plenty of glitchwork, melody and vocal segments, Indiginus' energy lends itself well to the uplifting buildups of positive dance vibrations which characterise this sound so well.

Surya » With Surya, Indidginus has crafted you a sonic transport vessel taking you to previously unknown dimensions of digital sound. Pulsating rhythm stacks atop foot tickling bass and is in turn the strata for vaulting melodies. Each arrangement opens doorways for sequentially edgier and more aggressive, piercing layers.

Substrata » Taking you to heavenly realms found seemingly within the hidden cavernous reaches below, these masterfully arranged layers of ear-tickling waveforms postulate new scientific fields of geomusicology. Panoramic percussion and bouncing leads play your senses like a violin and keep the dancefloor in motion.

Cosmic Trigger » Indidginus lays out a superbly pleasing morning rocker fueled by multicultural musical influences infused with a newly defined sound. Each layer, crisp and distinct, grips you and adds to a track that is as much a timeless journey through Earth's timeline. Cosmic Trigger is a masterfully synthesized six minute fusion of ancient and modern traditions.

Faerie Tale » An intro of crystalline, temporally altered glass sweeps cascades straight atop thumping bassbeats and a baseball team's worth of synth arrays which play their parts in seemingly hive-mind unison. Melodies made up of this many sorts of sounds stay fresh for many rotations, and topped with plenty of dancefloor funk make this a must-have for energy ressurecting playlists.

Gene Swarm » Indidginus' finale track to his latest and greatest album to date packs every inch of the artist's experimental intuition and knowhow until the very end. A chilled out, downtempo beat diverges away from the accepted norms of trance music and explores this artist's true sense of diversity and musical imagination and potential."

 Slackline Radio (USA) » Review of Align by Chris Lindsey:

"As the name implies, Indidginus is a look into foreign cultures where the sounds are only local to those inhabitants of the region. Michael Martin is Indidginus and he resides in Cape Town where the land of Africa meets the sea on its southern shore. South Africa is a melting pot influenced by many cultures from around the globe. So too is the work of Indidginus. Martin pulls together an expression of the world's music, blending electronic beats amongst the sounds of his personal didgeridoo. Foreign instruments and languages work to transport his modern medium of electronic music. On Align, you will find raw beats that graduate to the school of the old world with sounds and instruments dominated by ceremonial rhythms.

Martin has been creating music for several years now. It began with a love of the didg and a personal trip to Tanzania where the idea burst to incorporate his instrument into danceable music. His journey into electronica transformed into his solo work as Indidginus. Along his musical voyage he collaborates with Matt Hillier of Ishq on a project entitled Open System. Ishq records on the international Interchill Records, a location not unsuitable for Indidginus given the overwhelming influences of organic music. The style of Indidginus and Ishq meld together beautifully and their collaborative work can be heard on several tracks of Align.

On Doors to the Deathless we hear Martin's experimentation of incorporating the didg into electronic music. Initially, this track slowly starts with chants and ambient soundscapes that build to a discernible rhythm. An organ begins and makes it feel like some truly religious experience. The didg is added for complexity in subtle waves.

On Machu, Martin collaborates with Josh Hawks and they bring an ethnic beat of maybe some Mayan or South American culture. It is a slow beat raised with an interesting base line and occasional funky, twisted noises. Some rolling synths along with a traditional morphed flute transport this track to a distant, remote village unknown to many outsiders. You can hear the influence of another culture as the electronica carries this historic music to a new age.

Off we go to the Indian continent on Chakrasonic. Not unlike the Hindustani or Qawalli, Chakrasonic drives home the sounds of traditional Indian or Pakistani music as we hear a male vocal wash over the beats. The rhythm is upbeat with distorted sounds that carry a curious connection to some of the more traditional sounds of this regional style of music.

The incorporation of worldly music into electronica is nothing new and in fact, it has been going on for some time. But as time goes on, one occasionally finds an interesting twist where the ethnic sounds are changed and modernized in an entirely new and refreshing way. For Indidginus, Align solidly falls into this category."

 CD Baby (USA) » Review of Align by Greg Perkins:

"Align is a genre defying, funkydelic, shapeshifting disc of wonders. Continuously moving and ever changing, there is a feeling of listening to some future intergalactic DJ mixing together an off-air disc for his trip to Earth. Indeed beneath the vast range of stylisms and samples and atmospherics, there is an underlying unity, somewhat of a story, a voyage into the essence of Earth, in all its tribal coherance and industrial dissonance. In its seemingly abrupt yet retrospectively fluid and necessary transitions, there is an organic growth of sonic character and understanding.

All the tracks on this CD are good. Some are great. I'd imagine that the selections I have from this set are going to be wildly different from the ones that another person would choose, so strong is the diversity of its character. I'm a sucker for atmospherics, and having heard Cy and New Horizon, I'd say those are my picks, and I'm greatly looking forward to the upcoming Open System collaboration, and of course whatever else Michael has up his sleeve...

Dynamic and inviting, this is a greatly worthwhile communication from an active mind."

 BPM Magazine (SA) » Review of Align by Seeka:

"Mike Martin aka Indidginus has been involved in electronic music for a good ten years or more aside from his didgeridoo playing. Having worked on several soundtracks for TV commercials as well as other film related work he has somehow found time to complete a full length, somewhat ambient, down-tempo electronica album that has a slight psychedelic slant to it. I say slight because the emphasis is very much on easy, smooth listening here. Somehow Mike manages to combine a host of world sounds with robotic synthy squelches and Arabic type melodies that come together quite cohesively. Its certainly a little left of centre, and as such is fitting that he should release Align on Microdot Records who are no strangers to serving up something different."

 Discogs (Worldwide) » Review of Kaleidoscope by HMVH:

"Organic goa-trance on a trip to nowhere:

Starting off with what appears to be a heartbeat and turning into an increasingly loud howl from submolecular inner space that evolves into sounds of nature, the first (and longest) track takes the listener back to what might be the very dawn of time.

We witness the birth of nature and an intelligent being that wants to speak. It tinkers with a mélange of 'ethnic' (Indian and Arabic) instrumentation, then violently awakens during track #2 where it learns rhythm, percussion, dub and strums a bit of guitar before finally leaning into a deliciously tortured electric guitar solo that, sadly, goes extinct before it has chance to evolve into a higher form.

According to his résumé, Michael Indidginus Martin also pays the bills by creating soundtracks for short films and adverts. I cannot claim to have heard/seen any of them but I can very well imagine that he is good at it... Very good, in fact.

What we have here is living proof that Mr. Martin is quite adept at creating interesting soundscapes, largely based on his didgeridoo and a patchwork of samples and sounds that this reviewer cannot shake the feeling were not created specifically for this album but rather originate in a reservoir of previous unfinished efforts that lacked a specific direction.

This may or may not also explain the title Kaleidoscope.

Myriad, for instance, demonstrates noteworthy drum programming skills (perhaps the influence of ex-stalwart Colin Bennun), and these would be a pleasure to hear more of.

Spritual Spearmints could've been another stand-out track if it got to a point: it builds up and up and up, and the expected climax ends with its end and the beginning of the last track that really does sound like a remnant from the MOD/tracker days and the only one that includes proper vocals which are, admittedly, almost angelic and dreamy - in a positive way. And the journey ends thus.

Still, Mr. Martin does manage to dish up his individual servings with a common flavour - one which demands a serious sound system and enough pressure to extract those wonderfully low and primordial frequencies out of this smorgasbord of an album."

 Chai Shop (Germany) » Myriad (from Kaleidoscope album) voted in DJ Top 10.

 Discogs (USA) » Review of Spiritual Spearmints on Kaleidoscope album & Mountain High compilation by Martin Møller:

"Ahh, this one is so damn cool... Indidginus nailed it! The perfect chilled, moody ambience is there from the get go, with organic sounds - wind, water, chanting.... How beautiful!"

 Trance.net (Denmark) » Review of Spiritual Spearmints on Kaleidoscope album & Mountain High compilation:

"This is a beautiful track with a tribal female voice, floating sounds, deep dubby bass and a simple melody."

 Isratrance (Israel) » Review of Spiritual Spearmints on Kaleidoscope album & Mountain High compilation:

"Michael Martin from the UK give us psychedelic ambient at its best, with great sounds, nice production, and great didgeridoo sounds that flow from side to side in the mind :-] Mike Indidginus - brilliant work mate. Great psy chillout :)"

 Psynews (France) » Review of Myriad on Kaleidoscope album & Angelic Science compilation:

"An incredible track, & a great way to enter an album."

 Wirikuta (Austria) » Review of Myriad on Kaleidoscope album & Angelic Science compilation:

"The Angelic Science compilation showcases strictly the best in creative psychedelic downtempo from the far north, with additional sonic sorcery from the United Kingdom. Dubby and spaced out, perplexing, surprising and cutting edge all the way this compilation is the match made in heaven for sofa surfers. The compilation starts with Myriad by Indidginus. Hailing from London Michael Martin brings us a beautiful, tribal downbeat track, co- produced by Colin Bennun of Unconscious Collective/ OOOD fame."

 Computer Music Magazine (UK):

"Quality stuff here: trancey beats, ethnic percussion and gentle incidental sounds have been combined with live didgeridoo. Some very nice synth work and inspirational rhythmic percussion sit together almost perfectly, and there are enough detailed sections to keep your ears open and your eyes wide...."

 Future Music Magazine (UK):

"Well produced music with a nice spectrum of sounds. This would be ideal soundtrack music, which is meant as a compliment!"

 24.com (SA):

"IDM goes global village on this chilled cocktail of didged-out psybient trance, downbeat electro and spaced in Asian dub scapes courtesy of expatriate UK knob-twiddler Michael Martin."

 Isratrance (Israel) » Review of Psytelligence compilation. Superstring is track 9:

"Just when.... you think that the compilation is over, we get that metallic guitar by Indidginus and a tribal beat. The track is opened slowly slowly, progresses and evolves with very emotional and beautiful sounds and melodies. Bottom line: The last 3 tracks are worth getting this compilation alone, but the rest ain't that bad either Favorites: 3, 6, 7(!), 8(!!), 9(!!!)."

 Psy Reviews (UK) » Review of Psytelligence compilation:

".... the closing track Superstring from Indidginus is purely gorgeous: contemplative morning music, with loads of ticklish melodies to get those hairs on your neck standing up."