Moron – Gomel Haze ‘EP

Ambient & Experimental, Audio, Downbeat & Downtempo, Dub, Dubstep & Garage // By: simiolioliocloseAuthor: simioliolio Email: simon@netlabelism.com
More Authors Posts (40) // 09/04/2013 // 1 Comment

This little three-track EP is quite a treat. The inexplicably-named ‘Moron’ graciously grants us an insight into his deep and inviting stance on the quirky world of post-dubstep. A peculiar choice of name (as suggested) for there is nothing moronic about this divine music. Gentle, nurturing, and atmospheric, this concise offering is nothing but exemplary.

‘Lonely Street’ kicks off with a rustic field recording, and continues into a garagey feel. Lovely vocal cuts spiral around your brain, and the wide soundstage is a delight. ’Summer’ heads more towards a witch-house Burial, with prominent record crackle trickling through the mass of ambience. Lastly, ‘╪шЁюър ¤ыхъЄЁшЇшърЎш’ (any suggestions for the translation of this are welcome!) is huge and vast, and quite addictive. The feeling of this last tune is very much open to interpretation for me, which I always find a great quality for any piece of dance music; take away from it whatever you like.

Overall, lovely musical ideas and motifs, a well-accomplished production style, and a fine contribution to the mystic nature of this ever-developing corner of musical genre. To make an EP which really can get inside your head and poke around is a tough task, and this artists appears to have executed this brilliantly. However I can’t help but think that this artist has a lot more potential to innovate the established sound he has heavily cornered himself into. ‘Moron’ has the power to push the listen a a little further, and I am therefore eager to hear what happens after this release.

An interesting side note about the label: The relatively inactive Byzond Records are proposing that the first 100 downloads are free, so there is a chance this EP will not be a free download when you read this. I think this is a little unfair, and the EP should be made free forever, but then I am CC biased!

Moron – Lonely Street

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Link to Release Page [BYZ006] (Bandcamp)
Link to Label Page

Arkhaios – Radial

Audio, Deep House & Techno, Dub, Minimal // By: SimonVBcloseAuthor: SimonVB Email: simon.vanbockstal@gmail.com
More Authors Posts (23) // 04/03/2013 // No Comments

Arkhaios published his original Radial EP on October 16th, 2012 . It contained tracks he made around 2009-2010. Cism – a netlabel  ”focusing on deep electronic music with dub mentality”, based in Smolensk, Russia – has picked up the original EP and given it a fancy new re-release including 3 remixes that were not included in the original.

Arkhaios says he intended ‘Radial’ “to be more immersive for the listener in that it’s more focused on the EP as a whole instead of each individual track.” The very deep, dub-like approach to each of the tracks makes sure he succeeds very well in this goal. Even the three included remixes blend in well, so one could easily be mistaken in thinking the entire EP is one drawn-out minimal set. Overall, the EP evolves from breathy, almost arctic ambient to a darker, deeper minimal dub techno. While there are no groundbreaking redefinitions of the genre, it uses enough of its crux elements to keep fans satisfied: subdued kicks that sound more like heartbeats, slow yet ever-evolving pads and high-frequency crackling conjure up an instant feel of a nightly polar expedition.

‘Surface’ is the most uptempo track of the release, while the title track ‘Radial’ defines the sound of the EP the most (as it also has two remixed versions included). The remixes are considerably longer than the original tracks, but the track length – of well  over ten minutes in some cases – never becomes a hindrance. At any rate, I don’t think fans of ambient or deep minimal techno would be bothered by that in the first place.

‘Radial’ does not reinvent the wheel, but it uses the existing one with enough style and grace to delight both fans of the genre as well as people that do not have too many hours of ambient or deep minimal techno under their belt. A solid release, and we shall be looking forward to more material from Arkhaios. Definitely follow him in Soundcloud and Facebook (the latter shows some nice behind-the-scenes work on his album artwork and sneak previews of more material).

Arkhaios – Radial

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Link to the Release Page
Link to Arkhaios Soundcloud
Link to Arkhaios Facebook

Luqus – Shhht_18

Audio, Downbeat & Downtempo, Dub, Instrumental // By: SimonVBcloseAuthor: SimonVB Email: simon.vanbockstal@gmail.com
More Authors Posts (23) // 04/12/2012 // 2 Comments

As anyone engaged in a certain volume of writing can undoubtedly tell you, sometimes words just will not come. The dreaded writer’s block shows that somewhere in there, the creative juices just aren’t flowing. Many solutions have been proposed, but the one thing that always does the trick for me is to just wait until something comes around and inspires me again. Five minutes ago, it did: Silenced’s latest release: Shhht_18 by Luqus.

The first thing this release reminded me of after hitting play was that feeling I got when first listening to Shhht_12 by Great Skies: a feeling of wonder that quickly explodes into what feels like a complete reshuffling of all my organs. Shhht_12 has in my opinion always been the pinnacle in the Silenced catalogue. Until now, that is.

At only three songs and a total playtime of under 14 minutes, this EP seems quite modest in size. What it manages to pull off in this short period of time is absolutely stunning, though. Luqus’s work fits very well with the sonic qualities and style of downtempo, dubby releases Silenced has become a brand name for. The building blocks of the songs are not all that original, really. But the execution is nothing short of spectacular. Deep pads and almost subdued bass growls are complemented by drum elements that have nothing to prove, yet do so anyway. There is nothing here but patience. Luqus shows that elements we have heard for years now can still surprise us in their simple beauty. The fact that all those elements are mixed for maximum crispness helps a lot, no doubt.

The cover is, as always, a prefab affair. And although I don’t really dislike the design, it gets a bit stale after seeing almost 20 releases with a similar one. That, and of course the title of the release which is basically just a catalogue number, are the two things I don’t like about this release. Both have something to do with decisions Silenced has taken about a recognizable house style. So while I may not like their decisions, I can at least see why they continue doing things this way. It’s also pretty telling if the only negative thing I can say about a release is the fact that I don’t like the album title and the cover. And that is really it. Everything else is sheer perfection.

Shhht_18 showcases Luqus’s skills as well as Silenced’s eye for quality. We’ll continue to keep an eye on both. This release is a loving punch in the stomach; soothing balm and salt in the same wound. The world must know about Shhht_18. Highly recommended.

Luqus – Staring at the Sun

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Deep link to the Release Page [shhht_18]