Marking the much-anticpated return of Main, this album is much more along the lines of a microsound record than that of Robert Hampson's former Beggars' Banquet days doing guitar-based soundscapes. 'Tau' is very stripped down and clean, and features a dryness and lightness that heretofore has not been prevalent in Main releases.K-RAA-K
The otherwise untitled tracks are divided into two sections: "Heuristic" (the first five) and "Mirror" (the last three). Digital bursts give way to fragile yet angular planes of noise. Low pulsing echoes and drones lay underneath twitches and scratches. 'Tau' seems more prone to interruptions and unease as opposed to his former rhythmic lull, and as evidenced in the third track, is very spatial: Hampson is able to create feelings of both vastness and minutiae simultaneously. On the eighth track, the reverberation of footsteps down a hall and nearly inaudible fragments of a voice infuse a human element, which nevertheless remains somewhat clinical. It is likely due to Hampson's background with Loop and his previous Main records that his new microsound leanings are infused with an uncommon depth.
 
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