Milieu

-N are back with another release, complete with an interesting Flash cover: lod - taskenti. There’s a short interview on the release page with the artist, that sheds some light on his background and intent. Apparently, lod runs sinergy-networks.com, another MP3 label. It’s interesting how this label defines itself:

Our free to download releases are interactions between artists through sharing files, structures, ideas using latest technologies like internet, rewire to avoid distances, time or distribution barriers.

Keep this in mind when you read what CC license has been applied to taskenti…

taskenti is a collection of tracks with synthetic 4/4 drums forming the basis of each piece, with distorted lo-fi digital sounds, crisp synths and as lod says, slightly industrial sounds. Compositionally it’s very simple; with the same themes being layered and removed over time, allowing the tracks to evolve in a generally quite predictable manner. Most of the development in these tracks lies in the sounds used between the melodies and the rhythms, which seems to be the area where lod has spent of his time developing.

The last track, correcaminos, has a slightly off sound, which I would normally assume came from bad mixing, but it actually works quite well. It sounds somewhat insular, and here all the elements which made the other tracks strong come together.

It’s another good release for the -n netlabel, although I’m still hoping to see more of the less structured ambient their compilation featured.

lod - taskenti ep is released under a creative commons license (by-nc-nd), so you can copy, display and perform the work but can’t alter, transform or build upon it.

According to the author’s notes, Vincent Bergeron - Casse-tête de l’Existence is an attempt to breakdown traditional song writing, then reconstruct new forms and structures. This might remind you of many things, such as William S. Burroughs cutup technique, and at times Casse-tête de l’Existence recreates similar disorientating and dark experiences. Bergeron’s own voice appears on the tracks, and he has an instantly likable voice which is capable of a wide range of expression. This somehow gives his electronic experimentation a great impact, sometimes sections fall next to each other that seem ironic, sometimes as if he’s jeering at himself. This kind of inward twisting of the original material is prominent in the first two tracks La Naissance and Rêve-Réalité (histoire…).

The acoustic instrumentation in Communication-isolation is another interesting moment in Casse-tête de l’Existence. In this track, Bergeron uses less (obvious) effects processing and relies more on cut and paste techniques. Spiritualité-Profanité is more subtle, with a strong melodic line mimicked in the vocals and instrumentation. Here Bergeron appears to use cut and paste on purpose to create dramatic effects, something other musicians might learn a lesson from should they wish to create similar works.

Passé-présent-futur is one of tracks that’s grown on me most, with many different influences in terms of timbre. It draws attention to the strange mix of styles and eras Bergeron has explored in Casse-tête de l’Existence. And it’s due to this that, as a whole, the pieces have a complexity and timeless quality that makes revisiting the material both intriguing and enjoyable.

Sickness in the World - John Holowach continues Holowach’s sample-based production that you might have heard in his previous album, A Basement Of Broken Dreams. Hip-hop drum samples abound, this will probably remind you of RJD2, or DJ Shadow, but I get the feeling that Holowach is attempting to produce music he wants to hear and cares about, and not merely jumping on a bandwagon.

Take, for example, Draining the Waterfall. This is perhaps the strongest track on the album, following a simple song structure with layered drums building up to climaxes, supported by a catchy melodic loop and then gratuitous string samples. Gravestone Poem follows a similar formula, focussing more on cinematic strings to give it a more melancholic feeling, reinforced with dramatic sampled drums.

Looking Out Over the Precipice, on the other hand, barely features beats at all, but instead explores strangely stretched out and reversed piano samples. Superhuman Girl has strong vocals, and technically works well, but doesn’t seem to sit right with the rest of the tracks. I would like to see Holowach remix this.

Holowach isn’t afraid to using more pop-driven song structures, which makes his work readily accessible. That’s not to say it’s bland or unoriginal, and he’s not afraid to let his sense of humour shine through, as demonstrated in Funny Walk. The production is solid enough to make buying his CD on his Cafepress site worthwhile.

Mesh is an artist from New York, who takes his name from his ability to combine different things into a coherent whole. A Prehistoric Rodeo is his first EP, which you can download from his site or buy here. On CDBaby, his music is described as ‘post-punk disco new no-wave electro’, which is more simply said as: nice drum machines, interesting FM and analogue synths, and moody 80’s-inspired vocals.

Mesh also says he’s a graffiti artist, although I’m not sure how wise it is to declare on his website that he ‘truly bombed the city’s trains and streets’. Also, if you’re interested in the aesthetics of graffiti, you can use the RSS feed from Flickr for the ‘graffiti’ tag. The photos people post are genuinely amusing and occasionally examples of exceptional work. It’s also interesting to see people tracking tags and stencils that are getting used a lot in their neighborhoods.

I suppose his vocals might remind you of people like a cross between New Order and The Cure, which will probably interest a lot disenfranchised kids of the 80’s who are just rediscovering all the bands they missed. Have a listen to “Summer’s Going By”, and see what you think.

Sevensy - Music for Blank Film (released on Mahorka) is comprised from a set of themes that blend various styles and sounds, to produce a 20 minute imaginary film soundtrack. Each theme is constructed from a handful of a looped phrases that form the backbone, then with improvisation to explore other ideas and nuances. Like a film, transitions may be stark and highly contrasting, or gradually blended so you’re unable to tell where one theme begins and another ends.

Sevensy uses Orb-like electronic sounds in places, mixed with guitars and heavily processed but ‘live’ drums. There’s silence in the middle, that slowly unfolding into an unusual soundscape. Eventually, a looped melody plays, and other looped rhythmic elements are introduced. Sevensy shifts melodies and rhythms more quickly as the piece approaches the end, as if concluding and resolving themes.

Whether or not Sevensy was influenced by 90s ambient music like The Orb or not, I find this works well with his choice of non-electronic instrumentation and composition techniques. Unlike most blockbuster films, Sevensy chooses not to resolve the piece in a grand and obvious event, but instead seems to leave the piece open. This is quite powerful, because as the track drifts off into memory after it has ended, it keeps your imagination working.

Thinnerism are a progressive net label, taking advantage of their medium with gorgeous Flash covers, paypal contributions for artists and sensible licensing. Their latest release is Veer - Where Nothing Ever Happened.

The strongest track on Where Nothing Ever Happened is The Plan. Despite Ole Schulte’s “intense research in sound design” (see the extensive write up on the release page), he isn’t afraid to use fairly standard timbres for bass and drums. This tactic gives this track a firm backbone, from which he extrapolates more unusual sounds that can be rhythmic, melodic and purely timbral at times. Again, Vacio follows in this style, although is a lot more like mainstream techno.

Veer - Where Nothing Ever Happened is a high quality release, well mastered and presented, which is testament to both the artist and the label. There’s a set of remixes too, “Veer Interpretation”, including one by Jacek Sienkiewicz.