Robert Logan - Inscape (Slowfoot)

This morning I'm a little bit on edge. In part because of continuous wet and cold weather that makes my bones and muscles ache. In part because of Robert Logan and his new release on Slowfoot titled Inscape. As I commute to music on my way to work, disturbing images flicker behind my eyelids: abandoned places, dark hallways, churning factories of the unknown. The industrial percussion grinds away in a moldy basement of an old asylum, where dreams become reality and nightmares turn to life. Somewhere deep within this dark flashback, a kitten walks up the piano keys, all skin and bone. The instrumentation on Inscape is comprised of sharp metallic needles, poking at the delicate tissue of your brain, reversing, glitching, and dancing in a distorted fury of lust for artificial coupling. The material is raw and synthetic, coming to life with a jolt of electricity and toxic chemical reactions. And that's just the first few tracks... Logan's previous release, Grinder EP (Slowfoot, 2008), has already been previously hailed by yours truly with the following observation: "The sound of the four pieces [on Grinder] is a continuously developing crunchy groove with a touch of big beat, infusion of hip-hop, and a base of dark ambient texture swishing at the bottom of this poisonous cocktail." With Inscape, Logan stayed true to his formula and continued the embrace of digital darkness and sinister soundscapes. As I prepare the write up for this album, I discover that Logan's inspiration behind Inscape was indeed an abandoned factory in Hungary which was being swallowed back by the engulfing forest. Well, now... I guess he did his homework right. As a testament from my comments above, I've witnessed these images through his music with no prior knowledge on the background. There are other notable albums that revolve around the concept of nature taking over man-made structures, like The Refractor's All Colors Run EP (self released, 2008) and Jóhann Jóhannsson's Fordlandia (4AD, 2008), but Logan does it with a much threatening vigor. There is no sadness in Inscape. It is rather a ruthless take back of what was rightfully owned. I should also perhaps mention that Logan is only 21, and has already opened for Grace Jones at Massive Attack's Meltdown. But Logan's music is strong enough to standout on its own. Inscape is Logan's sophomore release, following his debut, Cognessence (Slowfoot, 2007). Recommended if you like Hymen artists such as Hecq, Architect, and Ginormous as well as music from Tympanik Audio by Totakeke, Stendeck, and Autoclav1.1.

myspace.com/robertlogan
myspace.com/slowfootrecords | slowfoot.co.uk

Von Magnet - Ni Prédateur Ni Proie (Ant-Zen / Jarring Effects)

Ni Prédateur Ni Proie is a complete theatrical performance packaged into twelve sketches on a disk. Strings tune up. A gong rings. A voice pleads with a shadow. Tension builds up. Industrial percussion kicks in. What follows is a combination of experimental neo-classical and avant-garde rhythmic technoid, curated with ethnic organic beats and acoustic orchestral instrumentation. Along the dark curtain of apocalyptic soundscapes, people confide in their woes. What is this place? With scalpel sharp precise execution, the French collective Von Magnet, tells a story of a human conflict. Regardless of the geographical location, we, the people, tend to find reasons to create interpersonal struggles that reflect externally through rage, tears, and war. The field recordings and the produced performances in different tongues speak for the voice of the human condition and the reality of today's brutal world. The cover art depicts two hands, of different skin color, smothered in oil, attempting to hold on to each other, but slipping away. The music conveys a similar theme. Von Magnet has been around since the late 80s, saturating the airwaves with post-industrial sound through more than a dozen albums. Their live shows are usually accompanied by performance art which transform the stage into a fascinating experimental musical. A quote from their bio: "Based successively in Barcelona, Rennes, Amsterdam, Lille, Berlin & Paris, for each project gathering different creative teams and mixed peculiar tribes of performers, visual artists, dancers, musicians, designers or sculptors, Von Magnet is indeed one of the cybergypsy pioneers of euroculture." It would be an absolute treat to see them live. Meanwhile, this excellent addition to an already powerful catalog of Ant-Zen will have to satisfy your cravings. The album is released in parallel on a French Jarring Effects label. Refusing to be divided, refusing to be boxed in, and refusing to accept the two extreme choices, with their music Von Magnet proclaims that it will be... neither predator, nor prey.



myspace.com/vonmagnet | vonmag.net
myspace.com/antzen | ant-zen.com

Wurlitztraction - The Star Lit Numbers On Her Fingers (Enough)

Like a buzzing concoction of plaster molded jigsaw, the sound of this abstract and experimental album descends on a creaky base board of musique concrète and gets nailed with percussive staples. The man behind this sound effect rich "soundtrack for late nights/early mornings" is Chris Reid, who goes by the name of Wurlitztraction. Reid compiled his collection of field recordings and unused studio manipulations from the soundtrack pieces he was producing for short films and animations, and wrapped this into an composition, The Star Lit Numbers On Her Fingers. It soon began taking a shape of its own, complemented with rich sound design, glitching electro-acoustic beats and a gentle push towards a darker sonic side of rhythmic noise and experimental electronica. It seems that the patterns never repeat, the melodies never blossom, and the haphazard ticks reappear here and there in a schizophrenic mania of a constantly twitching mass of a dying brain. And Reid doesn't stop there. Here comes in a bass guitar, acoustic drums, and industrial hits with an occasional vibraphone, trip-hop beat and a jittery feedback. Overall it's pretty difficult to pinpoint the style behind Reid's music [and that's a good thing], which is why I hold on to describing tiny mementos throughout the album. The Star Lit Numbers On Her Fingers is Reid's second release on Portuguese net-label, Enough Records, and is available for download for free from the site and scene dot org (catalog number enrmp138). Reid has also previously released an album titled, Lucidity Cue, on the same label.

myspace.com/wurlitztraction | enoughrecords.scene.org

Gescom - ISS:SA (Skam)

So we'll never know who's behind Gestalt Communications (Gescom), so what? It's pretty obvious that Sean Booth and Rob Brown of Autechre have a hand at this. This 2003 EP only reveals the well respected label, Skam and its title, ISS:SA, and even the latter is slapped as a braille sticker. The release did however follow on the heels of Autechre's DRAFT 7.30 (released only a week later) so many fans pick up the glitchy destroyed patterns, doomed abstract chords, and unrecognized splattered percussion to be as an extension of the album. Unlike any other collective, Gescom continues to lead us into the dark alley of nightmarish pleasures. All the while you're protecting your valuables and trying to scratch your head and place that sound that you've heard before. C'mon brain! Reconstruct this puzzle into a four second jingle! There!!! No, gone again. Smack! The last track, titled Slow Acid is a favorite of mine. This needs to be turned up much louder to hear all the tiny little white noise melodies in the background, while the AE kick progresses forward in a steady beat, and the common acid-house chords are choked up beyond comprehension. Sub woofer required. The artwork contained in the sleeve of the record is a special bonus. Another testimony to why records can offer just a little bit MORE. The insert is a two sided glossy print featuring a digitally modified image of trumpet, or perhaps a polished motorcycle exhaust pipe, creating an astonishingly bizarre brass instrument, the likes of which could only belong to Booth and Brown. The CD version of the record has a bonus track, titled Megamix. This is a 15 minute Gescom concoction which was originally featured on BBC Radio One's show when they did a Skam Records label profile. Here, the metallic rhythms and bit-crushed patterns are continuously looped into tiny fragments. I can only speculate if all the pieces are from previous Gescom releases and if it was performed live by sliding the loop window over an area of some track(s). Only like Autechre.

myspace.com/skamsmak | skam.co.uk

Elite Barbarian - It’s only when you get to the end that it all makes sense (Front & Follow)

With a title over ten words, you'd think that Benjamin Page composed a post-rock or perhaps an ambient album, where track and album naming is something of an art form. Nothing could be further from the truth. Page's solo release under Elite Barbarian moniker, titled It's only when you get to the end that it all makes sense, is an abstract and experimental electronic improvisation utilizing samplers and hardware synthesizers. Listening to this music is a mild demented experience. In a humid summer haze, I put my ear against a hollow, cold, and sterile wall, to eavesdrop on the copulating circuit organisms, dying in the process. At the center of this bleeping pile is a solitary piano, protecting its modesty with ripped out coiled strings. The sounds are kept and twisted against their own will, in a foreign confinement, away from their beloved ones. Only now and then, they are permitted to venture beyond the virtual barricades of their man-made asylum, for a brief glimpse of their abandoned soul. This album makes the first catalog addition to Front & Follow, a new Manchester based label releasing limited edition and attention oriented packaging. The releases are not constrained to physical copies - digital editions are available from a number of online stores (iTunes, Amazon, Bleep). Recommended if you enjoy laboratory electronica from acts like Mr. 76ix, Team Doyobi, Lego Feet, and Metamatics. 

Be sure to check out this week's installment of Electronic Explorations featuring Elite Barbarian.



myspace.com/elitebarbarian
myspace.com/frontandfollow | www.frontandfollow.com

Ginormous - At Night, Under Artificial Light (Hymen)

It's not enough for Bryan Konietzko to be large. To be enormous. Ginormous suits him better. Extremely digital and artificial in all its glory, the sound of sharp saw waves and crisp percussion cuts right through the trippy hip-hop beats. Listening to At Night, Under Artificial Light, I feel like I am crawling through a neon illuminated passageways under a futuristic city. Beneath the surface of a metal casing, I hear a granular and twisted meow. The animal unfolds itself from underground conduit and hastily escapes on its mechanic legs. Cling, cling. Yet I remain, impeccably, still human. The melodies are dark and harmony is morbid. With every track I swallow prickly copper balls. And as they make their way into my stomach, the ancient medicine for pain begins to work. The beats of Konietzki's third full length on Hymen are punchy and assured (the 2006 double CD on Hymen titled The Endless Procession and Our Ancestors' Intense Love Affair is actually two albums). Besides producing artificial beats in his studio, Konietzko is also a co-creator and executive producer for Avatar: The Last Airbender, an Emmy award-winning animated television series that lasted three seasons on Nickelodeon!! There's more on Bryan on Wikipedia or IMDB (many will be delighted to learn that he worked as a character designer for Family Guy). It's tough to classify this album. But if I was pressed, I'd file it along my dark, and experimental IDM collection. As is common with my favorite Hymen releases, Ginormous shoves his way into the circle of Lusine Icl, Hecq, Kattoo and Gridlock.



myspace.com/ginormousmusic | thisisginormous.com
myspace.com/hymenrecords | hymen-records.com

Totakeke - ELekatota - The Other Side Of The Tracks (Tympanik Audio)

Tympanik Audio, a Chicago based label, catches me a bit off guard with their first 2008 release from a New York producer, Frank Mokros, aka Totakeke. A dark, yet in places soft and sad downtempo album of intelligent rhythmic industrial, that smoothly flows from one track to the next with gloomy ambient pads and percussive, minimal, arpeggio-heavy synth lines. Mokros has previously appeared on a 2001 split with Radial on Ad Noiseam under his Ativ moniker. He also dropped numerous releases as Synth-Etik pumping more rhythmic noise for the German based Hands Productions. His most recent contribution includes a track for Tympanik Audio's first entry into the music biz with a well put together Emerging Organisms compilation, sprinkled with many great artists, like Architect, Hecq, Displacer, Ab Ovo and Phylum Sinter across two disks. For the likes of before mentioned artists (so grab the comp if you can). Favorite tracks: Carrier Signal, Gift Of Nervous Methods, and Fragile Thoughts.

myspace.com/elekatota | myspace.com/tympanik