When The Drift first popped up with their debut 12", "Streets/Nozomi," they were lauded as one of the most creative, forward-thinking jazz-rock hybrids, drawing comparisons to everyone from The Necks and Isotope 217 to Miles Davis and The Upsetters.

Thanks to these two songs, the stage was set for The Drift to unleash their debut album.

When Noumena was released, critics and audiences were polarized. It would seem that "Streets" and "Nozomi" - less than twenty minutes of music combined - had provided enough for The Drift to already have expectations to live up to, whether they liked it or not.

At times glacially paced, Noumena ventured into the darker, lonelier regions of jazz, dub, and ambient rock, where In A Silent Way and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly coexist in sinister harmony.

The trumpet freak-outs and Beefheart-inspired guitar stabs were fondly missed, while the increased attention paid to atmosphere was applauded.

What critics and most fans didn't get to hear were the two extra tracks included only on the 2xLP vinyl edition of Noumena (including, ironically, the title track from the album).

These two tracks sprawled to lengths and depths only alluded on their debut 12". Ceiling Sky collects these previously rare, vinyl-only tracks onto CD for the first time.

In addition, the limited edition (rmxs) 12" released earlier this year - featuring remixes by Four Tet and Sybarite - is included to complete the collection.

In total this is an hour's worth of enchanting, haunting music that only a handful of people have had the pleasure to hear until now.

That should be just enough to get us through the wait for the next proper full-length from The Drift, due in spring 2008.