Since childhood, we've been taught to never judge a book by its cover. Does the same apply to records and CDs? Hardly. CDs, unlike books, don't allow us to peruse their contents before purchasing them; we're limited to what clues we are given on the outside. Lucky for us, CD covers, more often than not, reflect the nature of their contents: cool, thoughtful packaging tends to contain cool, thoughtful music. Take, for example, this latest full-length release from the Chicago-based indie record label, Aesthetics. There are no words to be found anywhere on the cover. None. Not even the artist's name or album title--just an artistic, extreme close-up photo of someone's wrist and neck. The inside cover isn't much help, either. There are no credits or track listings and still no title. (A trip to their Web site reveals that the album is, in fact, untitled.) Those of you who are familiar with Marc Hellner and Joel Kriske's work as Pulse Programming know what to expect. Like their packaging, the music here is minimal. Warm washes of sound unaccompanied by beats, with slow, nearly nonexistent buildups in each "song" (the word doesn't really apply here, since Pulse Programming has abandoned traditional song structure entirely). Fans of their gentle, intelligent ambient music will be thrilled to get their hands on this aesthetically pleasing morsel of ear food. Newcomers to the world of Pulse Programming will have to take our word for it: this one's a gem. --Courtney Reimer