Touch the screen to generate different ambient sounds, which then begin to play in a loop. If you stop touching the screen, Bloom begins to create "generative music"--a term coined by Eno for music that's ever-changing and created by a system--that slowly morphs and changes as the app plays itself.

Bloom has a minimalist look and feel, which compliments the sounds it creates perfectly. When you touch the screen, colored circles appear, floating around and fading away as the music changes. You can shake the iPhone or iPod touch to clear what's playing and start over, or you can just let it run on its own.

Bloom is gorgeous visually, but also works great when you let it play in the background while you work.

Bloom is compatible with any iPhone or iPod touch running the iPhone 2.x software update.

[Beau Colburn lives in Boston where he listens to a lot of music, but plays no instruments.]