The work of Yellow6 wouldn't normally be associated with the festive season but Merry6mas is amazingly the fifth in an annual series. Rather than an official new release this is a collection of outtakes and rehearsals and is limited to a mere 100 copies. One could argue that if you like one record created by Jon Attwood you will probably enjoy his entire back catalogue and 'Merry6mas' should prove to be no exception to this theory. The main surprise is that it actually contains some of his best work. Another surprise is that Attwood includes a short 4-minute piece called 'Wonderland' that apes Jim O'Rourke's acoustic guitar. The remainder of the CD is reliably Yellow6; shrouded in mystery with each drum sample and loop gradually swelling in beautiful significance but minus the reliance of piano, an integral part of this year's 'Disappear Here'. More specifically, special mention deserves to go to 'Soundcone' (at twelve minutes the longest track) which was intended as an accompanying piece for a gallery show; it samples the artefacts used in the display i.e. stone, hammer, wheelbarrow and a Toyota pickup and remarkably creates a sublime masterpiece. Additionally, 'Wave#4', 'Gale' and 'Tile' raise the bar for more haunted cavernous soundscapes. So although this recording is too weighed down with inherent sadness to associate with Christmas, the unearthly magic of these instrumentals far outlast the novelty of most Yuletide gifts.