With "As Good as Gone", Nudge presents an album of ethereal drone, trip-hop, dub, and psychedelia with a surprising amount of continuity. It's always a difficult thing for an artist to establish an individual voice without sticking to a single style; and while Nudge doesn't stray too radically from song to song, he still manages to weave somewhat diverse styles of music together with an ethereal thread of sonic bliss.

This is my first exposure to the music of Nudge's central musician, Brian Foote. Apparently, his previous musical outings have earned him a bit of a reputation for being sonically schizophrenic. However, "As Good as Gone" has a focus on atmosphere which shines through as the common ground between each song. From the first track, "Harmo"'s minimal harmonica passages and reverberated vocals, to "Tito"'s breathy female vocals and dubby bass lines- there always remains a focus on a certain dreamy atmosphere. It's almost mournful at times, especially with the closing track's epic swell of dream-drone mist which is the most transcendently beautiful moment on the album.

Nudge feels like an artist that could have existed alongside the classic 4AD bands in some alternate time line where 1980's dreams fused with contemporary technology. I might not be completely into every aspect of his sound, but the vision that comes through the diversity is very compelling. 9/10 -- Charles Franklin (11 November, 2009)