Skanfrom - Postcards

Suction Records: 2014

Do androids dream electric sheep? Well, I dunno about that, you'd have to ask hardcore Bladerunner fans for a definitive answer. Let's assume they do though. By that token, do androids dream of electric sheep out on British pastoral hillsides? Why would they dream of something so specific? Aren't dreams just weird, jumbled recollections of what we've done, with an added dash of what we want? Why would an android 'want' to do something so frivolous as take in the countryside, when all they're meant to do is all that they're meant to do? Could we even program an A.I. to do something like go on vacation? Not just create an itinerary and send it on its way, but to actually lollygag at the scenery, get side-tracked by random novelty, and distracted by whimsical flights of fancy.

I don't know if such notions were on Skanfrom's mind when creating this album, but Postcards sure feels like I'm watching some twee robot go on a euro road trip. It's all in that Kraftwerkian electro-pop vibe permeating throughout the album (shades of Autobahn and Europe Endless), sightseeing across quaint countrysides. Yet there's also something melancholic and lonesome here, as though this experimental automaton doesn't know what to make of its puzzling programming to wander about English lands. To say nothing of all the strange looks its receiving from the homo sapien crowds. Oh, to be back in the comforting confines of controlled labs, not out in the open, constantly bombarded by sensory stimuli, with no firm directive other than “to go forth”. Humanity is so puzzling.

I should touch upon who Skanfrom is. One Roger Semsroth (occasionally Stephan Metzger), the Skanfrom project started out in the late '90s as the sort of Rephlex-inspired electro-IDM you'd expect of a scene rediscovering electro. Mostly releasing stuff on his own A.D.S.R. print, a tidy retrospective was put out on Suction Records in their early years, after which Roger mothballed the name to pursue a lucrative venture into the realm of techno records. Okay, I don't know about 'lucrative', but as Sleeparchive, he had a pretty successful run making proper minimal techno (not that plink-plonk stuff), even getting a few items out on Tresor. Sleeparchive remains Mr. Semsroth's primary project, but on occasion he's dusted the mothballs off of Skanfrom for an EP or two. When Suction Records relaunched, ol' Rog' provided them with a fresh Skanfrom album as well, being this here Postcards. *whew* I think that's all caught up.

As said, this album is all about that sentimental electro-pop as performed on simple electronics. The 'pastoral English vacation' is heavily implied with track titles like Trains And Lines, Perseids Over Greenwich, British Cottages and Degrees Of Frost (chilly mornings on the moors, I wager), while others are reflective of supposed feelings of unfeeling entities (I Am Not Feeling Well, Lost And Lonesome, Are You Alone?). Scattered about are numerical tracks like Seven (track six), Six (track ten) and Aught (track five). Does... not... compute...

Lars Leonhard & Roman Ridder - Patterns In Nature

self-release: 2018

Hey now, don't give me that look. When I said Orange Dawn was the last of the Lars solo albums in my possession, I meant it! That did not include collaborative outings, but chronist to honest (?), this is the only one of such releases I have. Not that Mr. Leonhard has paired up often in the course of his career. There was Seasons – Les Quatre Saisons with Alvina Red on BineMusic, and the odd track here and there, but by and large, Lars does the bulk of his music making as a solo venture. So yes, no more loopholes for me to exploit in my original proclamation in covering Mr. Leonhard's output. Nope, none at all. What do you mean, you can smell clouds burning?

So the first thing I wondered over Patterns In Nature is what this Roman Ridder would add to the Leonhard stylee. Or would Mr. Ridder be the one leading the music charge with Lars in sonic support? What sort of music does Roman even make? I've never heard of him before, but there must be something in the cut of his jib if Lars was interested in working with him. Would I be able to pick out any songcraft traits? Gosh, I hope so! I've consumed so much of Lars' music that his sound is instantly recognizable to my ears. Any deviation from a contributing musician should stand out.

And there's definitely that in opener Prismatic. Like, holy cow, those sweeping pads! It's not like Lars has shied away from melody, but he's typically on a subtle tip when it comes to its deployment. Not so in this track, spacious spacey synths front and centre as they ride along a dubby techno groove. Simply lush. So is this the Roman Ridder stylee, big spacey ambient or prog-psy that wouldn't sound out of place on Altar Records? Let me check out some of his other stuff!

*checks out some of his other stuff*

Ah, hm, okay, apparently Mr. Ridder doesn't have much other stuff for me to check out, a handful of self-released albums and singles to his Discoggian name (ooh, is that an ode to The Planets I see?). And of what samples I hear, gosh does this ever sound like Lars. Maybe a little more melodic and upbeat, but generally in the same downtempo dub techno lane. I probably would have assumed it Mr. Leonhard's work with a blind test.

Going deeper into Patterns In Nature, the melding of minds is much less apparent, the two complementing quite well. There's still more overt melodic touches compared to the typical Lars release (Strange Attractor, Spherical Symmetry), while some tracks tread into pure ambient dub drone territory (Circadian Rhythm, Penta Plexity, Fractal), but that's the extent of it.

Still, Roman's extra melodic-dub touches do lend more warmth to the usual Leonhard fare. Patterns In Nature wouldn't sound out of place on Silent Season, is what I'm sayin'.

UNKLE - Psyence Fiction

Mo Wax: 1998

(a Patreon Request from Philoi)

Perhaps one of the most anticipated debut albums in the '90s trip-hop 'osphere. Heck, in all of 'electronica'? Okay, maybe not to that degree – I seem to recall endless hype for that long delayed Sasha album, but not so much this. That could just be my Canadian West Coast bias talking, only privy to the sort of hype that got imported my way. I feel, however, that while I knew plenty about DJ Shadow, DJ Krush, and Rob Dougan as the '90s wore on, I didn't know much about the label that supported them, much less the man behind it. Regardless of a teenaged Canuck's ignorance though, there had to be significant buzz surrounding James Lavelle's project.

Not just in seeing what the mind behind Mo' Wax could create. Lavelle had already released a couple UNKLE EPs earlier in the decade, so folks had an inkling of his production talents. Having cultivated such a roster though, plus creating so many high-profile connections within the music industry within that time, not to mention 'electronica' having enough crossover appeal that even the 'illustrious' rock world was taking an interest... Well, you can imagine Mr. Lavelle feeling just a tad over-whelmed by the pressure of producing nothing less than a magnum opus right out the gate. He almost got there too.

Psyence Fiction could have gone so very, terribly wrong, a potentially bloated album of over-stuffed musical ideas, all the while dependant on all-star collaborations in a show-off of Mr. Lavelle's super-awesome industry connections. Reading reviews from when this first dropped, that seems to be the impression too. And heck, had I heard this when it first came out, I'd probably also have thought as such. Thom Yorke? Jason Newsted of Metallica? The London Session Orchestra? Man, that just ain't propah underground t'ings, mate.

I didn't listen to this when it was new though. Heck, I've hadn't heard this album in full until now, for the purpose of review. There's been two decades worth of actual 'overblown industry records' in that time, many of which are of far less quality than what's offered on Psyence Fiction. Absolutely there remain a few instances of Lavelle doing more than was necessary – anything with the orchestra, really – but when these tracks slap, they slap hard!

We can thank DJ Shadow's contributions for keeping things level-headed, basically Lavelle's right-hand man in this project. Whatever wild idea James throws out, there's always a steady, rugged, scratch-happy rhythmic rudder holding it together. Rock freak outs (Nursery Rhyme / Breather)? No problem. Ol' school b-boy rappin' with Kool G Rap (Guns Blazing (Drums Of Death Part 1)) or Mike D (The Knock (Drums Of Death Part 2))? Right on! Cinematic electro (Celestial Annihilation)? Okay, getting a little opulent there, but cool. Desolate folk ditties (Chaos)? Straying kinda' far now, aren't we? Moody warbling with sluggish downtempo beats and psychedelic sampling (Bloodstain, Lonely Soul, Rabbit In Your Headlights)? What is this, a trip-hop album?

Sphäre Sechs - Particle Void

Cryo Chamber: 2018

Seems I'm once again on a little space theme run with the current clutch of reviews, which wouldn't be complete without the good ol' dark ambient contingent cropping up for their say. You can't talk space music without bringing up the potential bleakness of it all. Yeah, it's nice to be awestruck by nebulae beauty and mesmerized by astrophysics ballet, but there's a whole lot of nothing out there too. Empty, soul-crushing desolation, wondrous worlds impossibly far and distant, such that there's no hope of ever seeing them up close and personal. Never mind even attempting to get there would involve navigating among molecule-shredding radiation and Cthulhu knows what in the form of exotica erupting from mega death black holes. No hope, no hope at all.

Sphäre Sechs is the work of two chaps, Martin Stürtzer and Christian Stritzel (sounds like a German comedy duo). Martin has been quite active in dark ambient circles for a decade and a half now, primarily releasing material under the alias of Phelios. Much of it is of the droning sort, with occasional modern classical flourishes here and there, of various themes and ideas explored. More recently he's been releasing material under his own name under his own Echo Elberfeld label. Ooh, I spy something called The Omarion Nebula (only DS9 dorks will get that).

Mr. Stritzel has far less Discoggian presence, only appearing in collaboration with Mr. Stürtzer, a modified Theremin his primary 'instrument' in the group. The duo goes as far back as 2007's Klang Ist Ewig, but half a decade later, they adopted the Sphäre Sechs project handle, releasing Tiefschlaf on Malignant Records. Fast forward a little later, and they've brought their cosmic soundscapes to Cryo Chamber, debuting on the label with this here Particle Void. Tale as old as time.

As an album, Particle Void is straight-forward enough. Eight tracks, most hovering in the five-to-six minute range, offering varying tones of drone while holding a general mood of cosmic emptiness. While a low thrum is maintained throughout each piece, droning sounds and pads ebb and flow as though in a trance-inducing meditative breath. Sometimes there's a sense of awe in the surroundings, as in Multiverse and Transference. Other times abject fear, as though bearing witness to it all is simply too much for the human brain to handle (Temporal Transition, Achernar). And gosh, is that a touch of the melancholy I hear in Cepheid? Sadness at forever being trapped in our corporeal forms, unable to traverse into theoretical inter-dimensional portals without our atoms getting speghettified across the cosmos? Or maybe that's what's going on in final track Radiation Phase, a slowly building drone piece that includes the subtlest of rhythmic pulses.

By the way, where's the Theremin? I don't hear anything on this album that reminds me of pulpy sci-fi of the '50s. Is Christian's manipulations of the quirky electronic instrument so extreme that it sound alien to that which we know? Seems about right for an album like this.

Vector Lovers - Pale Blue Star EP

self-released: 2017

Martin Wheeler is... back? Wait, when did that happen? I saw no big promotion for new singles, not even drive-by blurbs when I was diving into Soma Quality Recordings a couple years ago. Then again, it's not like his iPhonica album got a tonne of attention either. Indeed, I only knew he'd released that record when I was browsing about the Vector Lovers Discogs page. So it was again, with his latest album – or rather, soundtrack – but I'll get to that in due time. What I discovered, however, is it was self-released, which naturally led me to give a slap of the head, realizing in all this time, I never bothered to check if there was a Vector Lovers Bandcamp page.

There certainly is, and it looks like Mr. Wheeler's kept himself active even if Soma or any label isn't supporting his stuff anymore. Not super-busy or anything, about an EP a year since iPhonica, but it's enough to keep the Vector Lovers name out there for those who can't get enough of that sentimental electro stylee. If he's even still doing that. When I looked at some of these singles, I couldn't help but wonder if he's moved on from the anime influences and into more proper sci-fi, and maybe even some synthwave. While the Vector Lovers sound was never exactly '80s retro, it wouldn't take much to make that leap, should Martin fancy himself such a step.

So Pale Blue Star is the first EP I'm digging into here. And yes, it's 'pale blue star', not 'dot'. I know you keep seeing 'dot' in that title, keep hearing 'dot' in your mind (probably in a Carl Sagan voice) but your brain is lying to you. For one thing, that dot you see in the cover art is actually the sun as seen from the surface of Mars. As for the blue, that has to do with the Red Planet's thin atmosphere, where- ah, whoops, getting all astronomy geeky in here again. Just remember that it's 'pale blue star' in the title, not 'dot'.

As for the music, it's definitely more upbeat than a lot of Vector Lovers' album orientated tunes, but then his EPs have typically been aimed for the dancefloor. Not that the titular opener will have you bustin' your sickest moves or anything, an incredibly atmospheric slice of... prog, I guess? I'd technically call this EP a tech-house one, but man, if Pale Blue Star doesn't have you floating out among the stars (or dusty alien skies), I really don't know what else to say? There is a slight undercurrent of post-apocalyptic desolation here, rather like the vibe of his Afterglow album (or Boards Of Canada's Tomorrow's Harvest, if you must), but in that traditional, melancholic Vector Lovers way.

The remaining tracks play out in similar fashion, with Alphaville switching things up with a broken beat, and Android Nightlife getting more on that robo-boogie vibe. Good stuff, all round.

Lars Leonhard - Orange Dawn

self-release: 2016

I know, I know. No, really, I know! “Lars Leonhard again!?” you cry, but c'mon, it's been a whole two months since we last saw the dub techno producer 'round these here parts. That should be plenty of time for his sound to drift from your memory membranes for another dive into the his spacious downtempo delights. And lo', I do believe this is the last of his solo albums within my collection. He has released another four since I was sent this big ol' bundle of CDs, but yeah, even I admit I'm quite well sated on his music for the time being. Maybe in another half-decade, I'll dive back in to catch up.

Of all the post-BineMusic records Lars released, this one always caught my eye. How could it not, what with its fiery fibre-optics glowing like, well, the self-explanatory title? Such cover-art alone is usually enough to entice me with a blind purchase, so Orange Dawn likely would have ended up in my grasp one way or another. Maybe shortly after I got Interstellar. Having gotten it the way I did though, it put this album in a completely different perspective, in that in the former method I wouldn't have already consumed so much of Mr. Leonhard's other releases to the point they started blending together. Does Orange Dawn have much hope of standing out from the crowd now?

The track Aurora sure does, in that I swear I've heard this slice of dubby space techno somewhere before. No, not one of those N.A.S.A. videos of our star in action, though given the general theme of Orange Dawn has much to do with the effects of solar light upon our orbiting rock, I'm surprised this album hasn't been tapped for such soundtrack consideration. Then again, he was commissioned for an proper full soundtrack of a recent film (Solar Observer for A Decade Of Sun), so perhaps it's a moot point. Maybe a fan-film of Sol, then? Where was I? Oh yeah, Aurora. Like I said, I swear I've heard this slice of dubby space techno somewhere before, but Lord Discogs claims Orange Dawn is its lone home. Maybe it reminds me of another Lars track from another album.

Anyhow, this does most of the things I've come to expect of a Lars album. The dubbed-out synth tones, the thick rhythms, the warm textures contrasting with the sharp sounds. Some tracks provide a steady techno pulse, while others a languid downtempo groove. The final track Polar Night is almost an entirely ambient affair (if you don't count soft background patters and gentle arps as 'rhythm'), and at over ten minutes in length, among the longest tracks Lars has ever released.

No, seriously! His average track length is usually in the six-to-eight minute range, and Lars is astoundingly consistent in this, almost never breaking double-digits. While I doubt he has much inclination to do an LP-length dronescape, it would be interesting to hear him indulge 'beyond the ten' more often.

Ocelot - One

Avatar Records: 2009

I remember seeing Ocelot's name getting dropped in topics of 'good modern psy trance' way back in the genre's mid-'00s resurgence. Keeping the alias in the back of my mind, I figured he'd be one to check out should I ever dig a little deeper into that scene, but got side-tracked by things and stuff. Or just a general disinterest in how the music was developing as the decade turned. Fast-forward many years later, and I'm browsing the Avatar Music Bandcamp, wherein I spot an Ocelot album among their offerings. Hey, I remember seeing that name dropped as one to check out, should the opportunity present itself. May as well check this one out.

So I throw on One, and I'm digging what I'm hearing, as solid outing of psy dub and prog-psy as you could expect to hear in the year 2009. “Ah,” thinks I, “Ocelot must have come up when discussions of artists similar to Shpongle and Ott were aplenty throughout the interweblands. I remember good!”

Except I was completely wrong. After playing One, I listened to Ocelot's other works, and turns out he mostly peddled his wares in a totally different sub-genre of psy-trance, the dark psy continuum. Oh, now I remember, his name floating on the periphery of my attention when I indulged in Trishula Records for a spell. Dear me, if my memories were so easily led astray in this trivial matter, what else I might have incorrect recollections of.

Anyhow, this is a darn good album, better than I was expected, even if I didn't really know what to expect going in. For sure I instantly knew this would be on the chillier side of psy, a gentle, melodic ambient opener in Drifting Away reminding me of ancient Irresistible Force as sure a sign as anything. I was then mighty impressed by how effortlessly Ocelot rode those prog-psy grooves with floaty, trancey melodies and tasteful world-beat indulgences. The throbbing pulse of Cloud Cover, the bouncy beat of Rainbow Colors, the stuttery synth hook in Molasses, even the manipulated baby laughs in Chunocelot Soup. Such a silly idea almost never works in psy, but Ocelot somehow makes it work such that I'm effortlessly vibing on it seven minutes in (only four more to go!). And all this from a dark psy guy? Who'd have thought it? I mean, anyone who knows psy trance producers have a downtempo bug in them would know, but play this along side VectorSelector, and you'd never believe it's the same chap.

How could I not assume the thing I assumed from the outset, then? One could have easily fit in with the young Alter Records along with the likes of AstroPilot. Oh, wait, AstroPilot made his debut on Avatar Records, a couple years before Ocelot released this on Avatar Records. Does this all tie together? Heh, no, just an interesting coincidence, but if the AP association helps selling One as a record to check out, so be it.

Atomine Elektrine - Nebulous (Expanded Edition)

Essence Music/Old Europa Cafe: 2007/2016

I came into contact with raison d'être because I saw a reissue of one of his albums with an aged picture of a boat on the cover. I dug a little deeper into his other works because I liked what I heard and wanted to hear more. Exploring through the Old Europa Cafe Bandcamp pointed me to an assortment of other items that caught my eye by an Atomine Elektrine. 'Cool,' thinks I, 'a chance to branch out into another untapped vein of dark ambient producers.' Turns out, nope, that's not the case at all, as this is a side project of Peter Andersson, whom I've already name-dropped in this paragraph as raison d'être. You'd think I'd pay more attention to these sorts of things, especially if I write about them in older reviews.

Best I can tell, Atomine Elektrine was Peter's outlet for music that skewed closer to the realms of techno. I don't know so much about his first album under the guise, Elemental Severance, the scant clips I've heard coming off like so many Enigma clones of the time. Still, kinda' interesting that it appeared on the fledgling Cold Meat Industry. He self-released a couple more items before the end of the century, then seemingly put the project into mothballs.

Nearly a decade later though, he dusted Atomine Elektrine off for a new album on Essence Music, the very record I'm talking about here! He's kept it active ever since, releasing a new record every few years, all the while coupling some of his older works with expanded editions filled with unreleased material. Man, I know some artists cultivate quite the dedicated followings, but are there really that many die-hard raison d'être fans who'd indulge in double-disc collections of side-projects? Yes, yes there is. I'm assuming they're also the sort who have every noise Merzbow's released.

Anyhow, Nebulous. Atomine Elektrine has often taken to the cosmic grande for inspiration, and this album's no exception. Track titles include such items like Transforming Space, The Eye Of The Nebula, Deep Sky Twilight, and, on this expanded edition, Plasma Core Of The Quasar. The music, such as it is, mostly amounts to experimental drone pieces with hazy melody drifting among the interstellar medium. Some of it, such as where the dronescapes are richly layered into something more dubby, is quite nice as it plays, though doesn't really stick much to the memory membranes after. It all rather reminds me of Biosphere at his more minimalist, though even colder in a space station laboratory sort of way. I want to like this more, but coupled with the second CD of live recordings, it all feels like too much to take in all at once.

Speaking of, CD2 of this reissue does have some nice little ambient numbers on offer, a surprise considering the dark ambient Mr. Andersson typically peddles in. If you like your bleepy, Forbidden Planet soundscapes, there's some cool stuff here. Bet the visuals were dope too.

ACE TRACKS: September 2020

Time for another round of Sykonee Vs The Work Radio. Today's case study features what happens when being transferred to a brand new location with the station defaulted to the most modern music you can play for a clientele of all ages, but secretly wanting that younger, affluent demographic. Logic dictates it'll be pop music, with a heavy favouritism towards timeless hits of the '80s and '90s, but that's old people music now. You need something that connects with millennials, and hoo boy, do they love 'em some Marshmello. Or so whomever is in charge of curating these work radio playlists assumes.

That wouldn't be the worst of it though. Oh no, our mysterious taste-maker knows we can't subsist on a steady diet of Marshmello forever. There's just too much nutritious '80s and '90s pop to ignore, but we can't have the originals playing - it'd make Marshmello sound bad. Somehow, then, our faceless music merchant has found modern covers of all the old hits, and by modern, I mean tropical house remixes, with the occasional Ed Sheeran-style acoustic ditty thrown in. I'm honestly more flabbergasted and even a touch bemused by the fact there exists such an extensive library of this music now, enough to fill a contemporary pop playlist.

Needless to say, this stuff was rapidly annoying as all hell, but fortunately, I got my hands on the music feed (re: was asked to install some additional wiring, because I'm apparently The Guy who knows how to do such things). And while I couldn't change the music selection (don't have that authority), I did adjust all the volumes so it wasn't so blaring in the areas that it mattered. Where I can play my own stuff on my own portable speakers, away from discerning ears. Oh yes, there's a party in the Sykonee work corner! Even playing music as found in September's collection of ACE TRACKS!


Full track list here.


MISSING ALBUMS:
RX-101 - Like Yesterday
Buttertones - Midnight In A Moonless Dream

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 0%
Percentage Of Rock: 36%
Most “WTF?” Track: Sunscreem - Love U More, just for *that* lyric.

Is this the highest percentage of rock music we've ever had in one of these playlists? Maybe when I did that Neil Young boxset, there was more, or perhaps when I took on a sizeable chunk of Ishkur's CD collection from his angsty rock teenage years. Aside from that though, yes, I do believe it is. And how could it not, what with two offerings of Viking metal and two offerings of surf rock. Heck, could have been three of the latter, if the band hadn't deep-sixed their prospects with awful behaviour.