Kayaka – Silence Walk

Ambient & Experimental, Field Recordings, Instrumental, Minimal // By: NoahcloseAuthor: Noah Email: noah@netlabelism.com
More Authors Posts (8) // 22/05/2013 // No Comments

Those of us who peruse the web looking for music share a common frustration: finding music worth listening to.  That’s an important reason why netlabelism exists: to hopefully save the readers/listeners precious time they might otherwise waste by fast forwarding through countless labels and albums of music hardly worth the effort.

For me, it’s the “experimental/ambient” genre that for one reason or another tends to leave me wondering.  99% of the time, I give netaudio tagged as experimental/ambient a complete miss. But sometimes I’m unaware of the genre and stumble upon a link and have a listen, and this week I’m very happy with what I found… at least partially.

Kayaka is a Japanese-born, European artist with a flare for the experimental.  She also performs live and really enjoys the use of field recordings and sound collage. Her album Silence Walk, off the Zero Moon netlabel, is comprised mostly of captured sound from the Amazon (in Ecuador, to be more specific).  The first track – as with most of this album – is mere sound collage, a day in the life of traveling where Kayaka is hearing new and old sounds again for the first time.  Even the familiar sounds of water seem to intrigue her as it is used heavily on “Twice a midwife” and “Just let your flesh be eaten” (the latter being a reference to piranha?).  “Colibri,” the last track, contains samples of hummingbirds feeding near her microphone while flutes pulse in and fade out in the distance.

But for all the experimentation, the one gem of this album is the second track, “They danced the Armadillo.”  It is like nothing else on the album and stands out for its keen rhythms and arrangement.  Kayaka also adds instrumentation of her own which to me is reminiscent of the dual-playing saxophone lead from the once famous band Morphine.  I could do without much of Silence Walk in my listening queue except for “They danced the Armadillo.”  Without this track, the entire album is mostly a miss for me, but I’m certainly glad I came across it when I did.

Kayaka – They danced the Armadillo

Link to the Release Page [zero145]

i-fls- Diary of Spectre

8-Bit & Chiptune, Ambient & Experimental, Instrumental, Review by Genre // By: GarrettcloseAuthor: Garrett Email: garrett@netlabelism.com
More Authors Posts (8) // 28/03/2013 // No Comments

The music of i-fls is something that few may understand, but those who do will be completely overwhelmed at the amount of emotion it contains. With a conflicting sense of surrealism and serenity, it can perhaps be related to the Japanese term mono no aware, which is used to reference an empathy or awareness for subtle passing moments and things, with i-fls’ discography serving as a sort of “slice of life” handbook.

i-fls himself is from Japan, although his location on SoundCloud is only referenced to as “on the table,” perhaps referring to the near exploitative nature of his feelings. He has released 3 albums and 2 EPs during this past year alone, his latest, and possibly most bleak out of his entire discography is the haunting Diary of Spectre.

i-fls’ name is an acronym for “i from listening suicidal,” a reference to a blog he runs which plays off as a sort of manic personal diary and avant-garde approach to Microsoft Paint-esque art, paying homage to many of the musicians he loves by producing fan album art, as well as producing his own original drawings and photography as well. His blog name is also a reference to now defunct Japanese band, BOaT, whose aesthetics were also grounded in constant genre shifts and rampant emotion. i-fls is very much a product of the Internet. He disguises his true identity, but we can’t help but know him completely through the work he puts out.

One of the most distinct qualities of i-fls’ music is that it is all produced on Garageband, playing off as like a sort of lo-fi outsider version of Susumu Yokota. While many may have his or her own predispositions about using Garageband as a full-on musical tool, to think in such a way really takes away from how one should experience music in the first place, which is that we should hone our focus in on sound and emotions, rather than the source a sound is derived from. With that being said, all of i-fls music is composed entirely by himself, with no loops or samples. He simply uses the presets of Garageband just as anyone who has ever used the standardized sounds of an 808 drum machine or Casio keyboard.

The sound on Diary comes off as quite eerie, even for an i-fls album. On Diary, i-fls delves deeper into exploring the elements of shoegaze and most recently, chiptune. The second track, “abegawa,” is one of i-fls first tracks that sound distinctly like it was pulled from a video game soundtrack, sounding oddly reminiscent of the music in the video game, Yume Nikki, which in itself only contained chiptune songs when it was trying to depict surreal alternative universes or metaphysical “game within game” situations to the player.

Like many of i-fls’ other albums, Diary is referential to a lot of his past work, seen in song titles such as “residential town loneliness” (the name of an album released earlier this year) and “theme of yamane skepticism” (which references “theme from yamane loneliness,” a song on his EP, reality hallucination). The reason why it is important to note such subtle references in i-fls’ music is because it serves as a point of reinterpretation. If i-fls’ scope of work is truly to be seen as a “musical diary,” then much like a person reflecting upon the regrets and ill thoughts of their past, i-fls does very much the same in his music.

Often artists seem to be frowned down upon when reinterpreting their work, as if it’s to only rehash the best of their early days, but i-fls doesn’t really have earlier days. His musical journey is simply just placed on one single tangent, devoid of interpreting what is the past, present and future. It simply is, and that’s what is so beautiful about it. The amount of work that i-fls releases isn’t exactly overwhelming nor redundant, in fact it makes complete sense within the spectrum of who he is as an artist.

I struggle to say that i-fls’ music is not completely bleak, yet although that is so, I find much comfort in hearing his music. While some artists retain a depressive aura around them, I sometimes find it hard to listen to because it makes me too, depressed. But with i-fls, although he is the musician, he also seems like the listener, honing in on what I am experiencing as well and reflecting it back to me. Anyone who isn’t afraid to feel can relate to i-fls, and that is what is truly magical about the music he produces, making him one of the, if not the most emotively effective musicians I have ever heard.

i-fls- tamaki (album version) 

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Link to the Release Page

VA – netBloc Volume 22 (Life on Ceres)

Ambient & Experimental, Broken Beat, Downbeat & Downtempo, Electronika, Instrumental // By: simiolioliocloseAuthor: simioliolio Email: simon@netlabelism.com
More Authors Posts (40) // 15/02/2013 // No Comments

For those of you who are unaware, netBloc is the type of site which any netaudio fan should not be without. A very vibrant and happening blog which provides a much needed service; showcasing the best free netaudio which anyone can get their hands on. There is LOADS of music released on netlabels, and sometimes it can be hard to trawl through the giant haystack of miscellaneous music, only to find the needle which suites your listening tastes. If you are like me, and have ever-changing listening habits whilst retaining a requirement for quirky quality across multiple genres, netBloc may be your new best friend. Netaudio by its very nature is vast, chaotic, and badly organised. Blogs like netBloc, Machtdose, and good ‘ol Netlabelism are here to provide an internet-audio enthusiast with enough focus to guide them in the right direction.

This particular compilation, released in 2009, is right up my street. The music is largely minimal (as in no rock, dubstep, house, etc), and spans many avenues of style. There is a ‘fluffy’ element to each of the tracks chosen for this release. The vibe is friendly and inviting, whilst retaining dignity and individuality. The compilation is without loud synth sounds, or bare drum sounds, or music which fits nicely into a ‘safety genre’ (ie, no techno, house etc). Some tracks have a novel element to them, but most are beautiful yet engaging and full of life.

The title track by Marco Kalnenek, ‘Life on Ceres’, is a great start. A gentle and relaxing ease-in to get yourself comfortable. The instrumentation is a delight, and the happy melodic motif ticks the box for me. I have listened to Keinzweiter’s music for a long time, and ‘Mircoobee’ has always been one of my favourites. Quirky clicks, clammy cuts, and care-free chords rattle around in drum sequences possessed by a killer groove. The inclusion of my track ‘Treeboy’ on this compilation came as delightful news all that time ago. I think it fits very nicely! Ninja-Tune-esque ‘Biomythos’ by Revolution Void sounds like it was included on the Ocean’s Eleven soundtrack, as does ‘Pod 03′ by Pitch Boys. Lastly, T/M/K – Les Faiseurs De Zombi is barmy, to say the least. Mr Bungle gets a smooth cocktail…

Vast variety of genre. A sneak at 7 different labels. Above all, a pleasurable and enlightening listen which is a perfect accompaniment to most listening scenarios. I think I could even put this on in the office and not get too many confused looks (well, less confused than usual!). Check it out, and if you like it, subscribe to the netBloc newsletter!

Bitbasic – Treeboy

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Link to the Release Page