I used to live in a house with a living room that was painted in two colors: stone gray and brick red. Those particular colors, combined with the light coming in from the West, made for a nearly continuously changing display on the wall. The gray walls would take on varying amounts of red, reflecting back many shades of violet. A change in viewing angle would always shift the resultant colors.

What’s this have to do with music, you might be thinking? Well, the electronic music of Dave Seidel (going by the name Mystery Bear) carries with it some of those very same characteristics. That is, it seems to change before your ears.

Sublimation, released on the Peterborough Glass Museum label, presents the listener’s ears with slowly-morphing drones and shifting waveforms that form a sort of musical kaleidoscope. Points of interest materialize as ringing overtones, only to fade out. Clusters of notes rise up and attempt to take on different shapes, imparting their will on nearby sounds.

In the liner notes, Mr. Seidel advises: “Listen to this music in the dark with your eyes closed.” This will no doubt heighten the experience. And while my color-as-sound metaphor may fade here, you just might be amazed at what you’ll “see” without light. On repeat listens, you’ll begin to notice details that seem new. Surely this phenomenon is common among many art forms, but with this kind of ambient music, the process of discovery (and re-discovery) is especially fulfilling.

Sublimation is available at Toadstool Books in Peterborough and at Turn In Up in Keene. With artwork designed and hand-screened by Eric Gagne, the initial run was limited to 48 copies.