Purl - Form Is Emptiness

Archives: 2016

In my mind, Purl will always be a Silent Season guy, for one rather silly reason: his album Stillpoint was the second CD I ever bought from the label. And a humdinger of a record it was, so perfectly capturing such a sublime vibe the dub techno print cultivated at that point. Never mind that would end up being Mr. Cimbrelius' last release with Silent Season, or that he'd only had one other item with them before (Deep Ground). In my mind, Purl was Silent Season, and always will be.

That's obviously completely erroneous though, Ludvig shopping the Purl brand among many labels throughout his career. Heck, even by the time he'd put out Stillpoint, he'd already had more albums out on Dewtone Recordings than any other label. The following year, however, he made his debut with a little ambient print just getting their feet wet, with a similar aesthetic to Silent Season (densely layered dub drones, naturalistic cover art). He'd go on to release many more there, plus their off-shoot print. For all intents, I should be thinking Purl as an Archives guy more than a Silent Season guy. Nope, still can't quite shake it.

Purl being on Archives makes sonic sense, and Form Is Emptiness delivers exactly what you'd expect of the pairing. Ludvig's drone tones are given more prominence, but his dubby rhythms aren't completely jettisoned either. In fact, they're often downright heavy, some serious low-end throb going on in the track Unlearn even as gentle, ethereal pad work weaves through the bass. Elsewhere, Under Mjuka Vatten and Willow (Graft I) keep the dub techno pulse steady, focusing more on the subtle harmonic tones layered overtop. And if final track Terra Lumina, at sixteen minutes in length, didn't make room for at least a little beatcraft during its runtime, it'd be a big waste of sonic space indeed.

Still, Archives is generally more an ambient label than a dub techno one (there's Faint for that), and Form Is Emptiness offers the beatless stuff too. Vissna washes layered strings and synths like waves upon a seashore, while the titular track expands on Vissna's ideas to grander scale. Not to mention most tracks have at least some ambient dithering at their starts, gradually leading in whether there's a rhythm or not. Yep, there's all the things happening that should make this a standout Purl album. Well, almost.

Honestly, I think this is more an Archives issue than a Purl one. The label, while very dependable at providing a particular type of ambient, does tend to sound rather samey. I've brought up this critique before, and it holds true with Form Is Emptiness, a sense of repetitiveness settling in as the album plays out. Having heard Ludvig across many prints now, I can only conclude this is more him making music in the Archives style. Great if you're down for more with a little dub techno rudder, but may not leap out at you as essential as his other releases.

Imba - First Encounter

Suntrip Records: 2016

I'm gonna' run into more artists like this one, the deeper into Suntrip's discography I go, aren't I? Like, I'm pretty sure I've touched upon most of the primary players for this label, and many of the agreed-upon classics from their catalogue. There's still many CDs in the pile I bought from them (just... so many), with artists that are either just emerging, or were fly-by-night producers.

Imba, for instance, has only this album to his name. Several compilation contributions prior, a couple EPs after, and that's all Nikola Petrović wrote for his time in the psy trance scene. Not that this is an entirely uncommon thing to happen, many working hard keeping that initial enthusiasm burning hot, only to gradually recede in the aftermath of their accomplished goals. Or something else happens, like bad drama and whatnot. Hmm, now I'm curious, and whenever I get curious about something regarding Suntrip's artists, there's one place that's time and time again proved quite resourceful, the psynews.org forums! Man, am I ever fortunate that place still exists, and has a functional search engine. Anyhow, back in a pantomime moment...

*bad A.I. psy music plays*

Okay, I'm back, and boy, was Imba ever active there. At least, for a long time leading up to this album. Seems I wasn't far off in my guess though, the chap airing some grievances about the static state of neo-goa as the '10's wore on, how there just wasn't much room for innovation or growth without the purists declaring the music not vintage enough or too modern sounding. Hey, I feel that, the sort of gripes you'll come across damn near every micro-niche music scene in existence. And Lord knows psy-trance's micro-niche scenes can have some of the most anal-retentive, stylistic pedants about. How else does such a specialized genre of music have dozens of offshoots? It's definitely an issue, and I'm glad he felt compelled to talk about it.

Or maybe Nikola was venting that his music wasn't gaining the traction he hoped it would, for those very same reasons. Could be, could be.

So First Encounter just didn't grab me. I really don't know why. Maybe it's because of his insistent use of prominent 'modern' (re: full-on) basslines, which overwhelm much of what else his tracks have going on. The squiggly sounds and melodic leads all seem fine, but don't really leap out in any significant way, almost subservient to the dominate rhythms that vary little between tracks. I'll grant it's not so bad as the random wibble you'd often hear in regular full-on utilizing similar basslines, but nothing I'm anxious to hear anytime soon either.

I suspect, because the rhythms are so high in the mix, this stuff is better served in live settings, but even as I was playing it during my regular walking commute, little hooked me beyond “yeah, this gives some pep to my steps”. And any ol' Suntrip release gives me at least that.

Various - FabricLive 85: Jesse Rose

Fabric: 2016

Okay, throw all that I've said about FabricLive being the series emphasizing broken-beats. This edition completely debunks that proclamation, Jesse Rose a straight up house dude through and through. Maybe a little tech-house for those 'harder' moments in the night. This isn't totally unprecedented, some FabricLive sets dipping its toes into the realms of house and techno. Typically it's with more of a focus on the funk roots of those genres, or at least an inching nod towards something more disco. It's not common though, and certainly nowhere near as faithful to the deep sounds of American house music. That Duke Dumont set, perhaps, or one of the volumes featuring an artist I know little about (Jimmy Edgar? Daniel Avery? Fake Blood??). What I'm getting at is FabricLive 85 sounds like it'd be better suited for the Fabric-Prime series than FabricLive, but I guess Baby Ford had dibs on that one.

Anyhow, Jesse Rose. I feel like I should know him more, but can't help thinking I'm mistaking him for some other tech-house DJ from the '00s with a similarly phonetic name. I've only come across Mr. Rose once before, on the Rub-N-Tug Fabric CD, but was a fairly regular artist on many sets for a solid decade and half. He had his own Berlin label, Front Room Recordings (when it was impossibly cool to have such a thing in your pocket), then moved onto another print in Play It Down. Then he apparently shut most of it down towards the end of the 2010s, and I haven't found much info for him since. Did he decide to hang things up after all that time? Never returned from a sabbatical following the Pandemic Years? Your guess is as good as mine, but far as social media is concerned, the Jesse Rose story ends before the '20s.

Which makes FabricLive 85 even odder, in that it came out only a couple years before his seeming hiatus. Normally folks release a Fabric set when they're on the verge of going onto bigger things. Or maybe Jesse was already showing hints of winding things down, and wanted to pull a Sandwell District instead? Not that Mr. Rose was a prolific mix CD marketer either, this only his third outing in the field (his first being on Get Physical ...ah, perhaps that's where I remember him from?).

These are about the only quirky talking points I have regarding this set, as it's a fairly standard deep house one with only the slightest nods towards tech-house. The funk flows, the soul simmers, the vibes vibe, the mixing keeps things even keel but doesn't really feel like it goes much anywhere. The sort of tunes you wouldn't mind hearing in a second room or some place more loungy, perhaps outdoors near a bar. Again, something I'd expect to hear on the parent Fabric series, not the one more known for its eclecticism. These Fabric On A Budget sessions always seem to end like this.

Ra - Earthcall

Suntrip Records: 2016

Nope, still not used to Ra having such a small discography. Forget having a brainfart over their 9th album only being their second, I just can't help but assume they have a far more robust catalogue than what Lord Discogs claims. Again, it's all those compilation contributions. Whether offering up tracks to Suntrip, other tunes to Altar Records, or even getting a few nods on the memorable Goa-Head series, they certainly have enough material for at least a double-LP of assorted musics. Mainline records though? Can you believe this here Earthcall, released eight years ago, is just their fourth album?

Heck, it's just their second for Suntrip, a surprise in of itself considering how much folks often pointed to 9th as one of the label's definitive early releases. Surely pressure was high for a quick follow-up, but instead they spent some time on the downswing, putting out a mostly chill affair on Altar between 9th and this. Then after Earthcall, barely a peep beyond the compilation market again, a lone EP on Altar the only thing since, and released just last year at that. Seems Ra really aren't in a hurry to flood the market with trance, content letting all the hep new cats on the scene grab all the goa glory.

That's what I find rather fascinating about Earthcall. Given how gung-ho the goa and psy goes from most of the artists I've heard on Suntrip thus far, it's quite refreshing having an album that plays things relatively smooth, easy, and dare I say, chill. Yeah, the beats are still at a brisk pace, and there's plenty of momentum in Ra's use of synth leads, all building to solid peaks as any other nu-goa trance you'll hear. It's all just really mellow about it too. Music that realizes there must be times for those build-up and lead-down moments within a set (or heck, a twenty-four hour bender), and Ra are completely content playing that roll.

You can vibe, you can sway, you can flail, but there's no tear-out climax to these tracks – let some of the younger lads on the Suntrip roster fill those slots. Christer and Lars are old hats at this game, after all, doing their thing since the early '90s. They'd like to retire to their tents at the festival early, I wager. Or maybe they've become early birds as all old people do. So here's a set for the wee morning hours while being served at the Vegan Rasoi Smorgasbord.

Six tracks make up the bulk of Earthcall, plus one collaboration with Menkalian dragging Ra closer to where most folks would expect of modern goa to go (tear out peak!), plus an obligatory downtempo closer. As with 9th, I can't say much of this stuck with me afterwards, but for some reason, I came away from Earthcall with an overall better experience. Just more pleasant listening compared to how bricked and full throttle some of Suntrip's trance can get. Gettin' old, I guess.

New Order - Complete Music

Mute: 2016

I made a bold claim in declaring this 'remix' album New Order's best body of work outside of 'Best Of' packages, and now I get to show my receipts. Actually, no, I don't think I can, at least without bringing up the context that led to the album this sprung from, Music Complete. And that would eat up way too much word count that I'd rather spend detailing the tunes here. Besides, as my purchase of Complete Music included a free download of Music Complete, it'll at least leave me something to ramble on about whenever I get around to that record.

And the honest truth is, had my 'Surveying' stipulation not forced me to check out Complete Music, I may not have in the first place (or much of New Order in general, but stick with me). Yeah, there's been some ace remixes handed out to New Order's catalogue over the decades, but this was an entirely in-house project, simply taking the existing songs and extending them for maximum dancefloor efficiency. Hey, that's great, as I already liked the clubby nature of the originals, so more of that isn't so bad. A little more rhythmic intro here, a lengthier bridge there, and holy cow, these seven-to-nine minute versions are just so much better! I don't think I can even go back to the Music Complete variants, coming off like radio edits now. It almost makes me wonder if these were the finished songs, but in realizing it'd balloon the album to double-LP length, were forced to pare things down for commercial interests, rendering Complete Music to 'Director's Cut' side-project status. Probably not, but it's a fun notion if so.

So Restless comes in with all those peppy rhythms, hooky guitars (but no Peter Hook, he gone), emotional string swells, and synthy punctuations. And then, some two minutes in, Bernard comes in, and if this track hasn't fully won you over, then I don't know how you've been a New Order fan. Right, it's not Blue Monday, but hardly anything else in their catalogue is.

This is the sound of a band that's been through it all, having the skill to incorporate all their learned influences, and still find room to add some (then) contemporary tricks. A festival-ready breakdown in Singularity. A festival-ready build in Unlearn This Hatred. A little d'n'b momentum in Stray Dog (complete with a gravely Iggy Pop) and Superheated, and so on. Nor have they side-stepped other eras of their career, like the NRG pulse of Plastic or synth-pop campiness of Tutti Frutti (a song I dreaded going in based on title alone, winning me over regardless), both vintage '80s without sounding canned or retro-trendy. Or jubilant '90s funky piano house vibes of People On The High Line. Or the '00s indie rock janglyness of Nothing But A Fool and The Game. It's a little bit of everything you know of New Order and then some.

And then performed extra length, just because they can!

Morphic Resonance - The City Of Moons

Suntrip Records: 2016

Morphic Resonance is the name of Syzygy's lone album, released on Rising High Records three decades ago. It's another in a long line of obscure records that blossomed in an era when it felt nothing was off limits, genre demarcations still in flux, producers able to flit between progressive house, techno, trance, world beat, and IDM with little care or worry about fitting in within established scenes. It's an album I've had my eye one nabbing for quite some time now, but would have to pay upwards of forty bones to own a physical copy of. I'd even settle for a digital re-issue now, but it seems this is an album that'll be stuck in legal limbo for awhile. At least I can still stream it, but for how long, I wonder? For how long...

Morphic Resonance is also the name of Cristian Ferandez Font's psychedelic trance project. This is his debut on Suntrip Records, the label where he's mostly made a home for himself.

It's also-also another CD that doesn't waste any time getting you into the good shit. Like, good on Cristian for coming out hard, fully aware one needs to make a strong, immediate impact to stand out in such an overcrowded glut of releases. Even with Suntrip's usual high bar, getting noticed can take some gumption, and Psychedelic Hell lets you know you're in for a trip on the relentlessly acid side. As if that wasn't enough, follow-up In The Mouth Of Madness lays the dark vibes on even thicker, a menacing undercurrent of low ends pushing the squelching TB-303 to proper cosmic horror levels. And if that wasn't enough, the titular third cut goes full bore with its psychedelic energy, needing a dozen minutes to strut its stuff. Heck, it even drops a key change at the climax, always a welcome bit of tonal shift in music as unrelenting as this.

In fact, it's almost too much awesome out the gate, as The City Of Moons (the album) doesn't really hit that peak again until the finale. The four tracks between are solid enough, they just don't do enough to distinguish themselves from being a run of aggressive, trippy-swirly acid sounds. Yeah, Chronos has a hollower beat, while Procyon has a punchier beat, and Mindwarp has a flatter beat (vintage goa beat, if you will), but compared to the highs we experienced out the gate, just can't compare. The sort of tunes that make better sense when out doing stuff than sitting back analyzing their composition, is what I'm saying.

As for that finale, it's a remix of S.U.N. Project's Space Dwarfs, a track I'm not as intimately familiar with as some of their other works, but a fun acid number nonetheless. Morphic Resonance gives it some serious beefing, as you'd expect of a producer remixing a track nearly twenty years after the fact, but it's definitely a welcome conclusion to an album that needed something on par with its opening salvo in its back-half.

Crossing Mind - Beyond Duality

Suntrip Records: 2016

Well, at least there was a little more space between this Suntrip CD and the last: three whole releases! Maybe there will be even more between this and the next. (Spoiler: nope!)

This here is Crossing Mind, one Stéphane Bèze from the nice region of France, erm, Nice. That's honestly a bit unconventional a home base for psy trance artist. You'd think someone residing on the northern Mediterranean shores would be more influenced by the Balearic vibes of house, disco, and Italian eurodance. Nope, seems the wiggly, squiggly sounds of goa was his calling, and fortunately for him, a Belgian print gave him a prime opportunity to share his sonic wares.

I've apparently crossed paths with Crossing Mind (he's... crossed my mind? Eh? Eh...??) a couple times before, on Suntrip compilations. Didn't seem to make much of an impression on me beyond a casual namedrop there, and I'm honestly not surprised why. Mr. Bèze makes competent goa, but that's about par for the course with most artists on this label.

Opener Cyclotron does all the right things out of retro-nu psy: spacey synths, squelchy leads, burbly acid. The rhythms sound somewhat flat and plastic though, a trait I more associate with '00s full-on than anything '90s. Yeah, ol' school goa can its share of hollow, *tchok* beats, but these have that modern sharpness so much computer produced music comes with. I wouldn't call it a deal-breaker or anything, but many Suntrip artists have provided plenty of beef in their beats. Spoiled for options, y'know.

Drat, I'm already sounding unintentionally negative, aren't I? Well, let's hear what else Beyond Duality has to offer. The Foolish Mind: a little more twisted in a dark psy sort of way. No Hazardous Material Signs: a little deeper in the squelchy synths. Alpha Centauri: a little more bouncy, in a space jaunty sort of way. No Event Horizon: a little more driving, in a space adventure sort of way. Psyko-Mind-Porteur: back to the deeper side of psy, and quite long at over eleven minutes in length. Life Forms: hey, this rather reminds me of vintage Terra Ferma on good ol' Platipus.

And that's the album done. I mildly enjoyed it as it played, but can't say much leaped out to me either. Well, aside from those beats, but more for how out of place they sounded compared to so much else I've heard from Suntrip thus far. Who knows though, maybe that's actually the standard, and I've just been fortunate to hear rhythms with more power behind them from the likes of E-Mantra, Artifact303 and Clementz.

As for Mr. Bèze, this seems to be his last Crossing Minds album. In fact, much of his musical output dried up just before all that pandemic business went down. Aw, man, I hope nothing terrible happened. I couldn't find any info elsewhere, so maybe just another case of a musician needing to refocus their priorities on other things in the wake of lost touring business.

Chihei Hatakeyama / Dirk Serries - The Storm Of Silence

Glacial Movements Records: 2016

It's been a spell since I last talked up Chihei Hatakeyama, and not for a lack of desire. He's simply one of those ambient artists that has hardly any filter, a discography that keeps ballooning to ever greater proportions with each year. It's been six cycles since I first reviewed an item of his (holy cow!), and Lord Discogs lists some forty more items added to his catalogue in that time (holy cow!!). Even if I wanted to jump back in at some point, where do I even begin? I only scoped out Above The Desert because it happened to be among Dronarivm's newer releases at the time. Maybe I should do the same with another trusted label, then? Yeah, Glacial Movement Records, you'll do.

Even better though, this particular release is a pairing with another ambient artist I've long wanted to dive into, if not for an even more daunting discography behind him. Dirk Serries is his real name, but many know him as Vidna Obmana, one of the earlier ambient drone artists that leaned into the dark ambient side of things. Once again, it's that industrial background, caustic noise and sonic experiments eventually morphing into music more contemplative and reflective. He's worked with many prominent names of that scene, including Steve Roach, Alio Die, Robert Rich, and Asmus Tietchens. And like many of his brethren, his nearly four decade old discography lists some one-hundred items on Lord Discogs. That's not even getting into his more recent works as Fear Falls Burning, plus another hundred items under his own name. Where does one start with a catalogue so vast, but I repeat myself.

Sadly, this is hardly the best album to glean a comprehensive conclusion on either man's work. Honestly, even a twenty CD box-set would be lacking, but if you were looking for a definitive work from Chihei or Dirk in The Storm Of Silence, this probably isn't it. I mean, it's only four tracks long! How can any forty-year spanning oeuvre be summed in a mere forty-two minutes? For all I know, this is Misters Hatakeyama and Serries just going through the motions, elder ambient statesmen making music for its own sake, to Hell with challenging the genre, or something. Not that I dislike what I hear, oh no! It'll simply be a lo-o-o-ong while before I come to any sort of judgment on their works, is all.

Anyhow, this is a fairly typical collection of droning ambient as I'd expect from the players involved. Well, maybe not so much Glacial Movements, The Storm Of Silence not quite so cold and foreboding as I've heard from the label. Heck, I'd even call opener Kulde 'warm', in that the minimalist synth pads are rather soothing, wrapping you in a comforting embrace. Each subsequent piece, averaging around eleven-minutes each, gradually ramps up dissonant harmonic tones, but never in a confrontational way. And it's over before you realize it, but this wasn't the last time these two paired up, nosiree.

AstroPilot - Solar Walk IV. YOUniverse

Blue Tunes Chillout/AstroPilot Music: 2016/2017

You'd think it'd take me less than... *squints* seven years to nab a copy of this. Indeed, when I did take the AstroPilot plunge, I grabbed every one of the Solar Walk albums, plus the remix outing Star Walk. So should another edition come to light, absolutely I'd be there ready to slap down some coinage for it.

As it turned out, this was about the tail-end of his tenure with Altar Records, shortly after setting up his own eponymous digital label to self-release material. And as a means to kick things off, he launched the label with Solar Walk IV. YOUniverse. Like, it's just good marketing sense when establishing your own print, dropping with the ambient series you're best known for. Perhaps somewhat foolishly, I assumed a hard-copy edition would drop as well, so held out on it. And held... and held... and held... It was only after checking back in on AstroPilot's Discogs page that I realized, “Hmm, there isn't gonna' be a CD of Solar Walk IV, is there.” Fortunately, digital albums never run out of copies, so it was simple t'ings finally get one for myself.

While previous Solar Walk albums explored the grandeur of the cosmos, the subtitle of IV implies we're in for a journey of inner space. Or that you are the universe, made manifest, so here's some music to get to know yourself better. Wait, that sounded kinkier than intended. Um, 'when you stare into the cosmic abyss, it stares back at you'? Nope, that ain't it, Solar Walk IV far too uplifting for such a bleak concept. Okay, I admit, YOUniverse comes off a tad hokey as a title, but whatever, it's the music that counts, and once again Dmitriy brings the opulent psy-chill and space ambient goods.

We're certainly dropped into the big, emotional feels with Our Second Sun, picking right up where most Solar Walks left off. What's this though? Some light groove to go along with the densely layered synth tones? Gosh, might YOUniverse forego the pure ambient pieces for something more on a steady prog-psy tip? Second track Balance certainly suggests so, offering it's own light rhythm in support of the usual cascade of bright pads. Third track Desolate Spaces scales things back though, a beatless affair and much less overbearing in its use of layered drones.

Solar Walk IV mostly alternates from there, with a gradual ease down to more reflective, contemplative pieces over the 'space symphony' tracks of the first half. There's even a touch of melancholy in Through The Veil and Frozen Time, though with synth harmonies this bright and bold, even the downtempo moments are grand.

Which has always been par for the course with these Solar Walks: music for epic feels, stupendous stargazing, and all that fun stuff that makes watching documentaries about cosmic splendour all the more addictive. It may not be as subtle as some space ambient goes, but if you wanted that, there's always Silent Universe.

Yamaoka - Short Films For Long Days

Databloem: 2016

Speaking of artists I've neglected, here's Yamaoka again! Sprung for a couple of those Databloem discs, but wouldn't you know it, he's gone and released more since, including another collaboration with Purl (two, if you count Sculpture on Shimmering Moods Records ...must ...resist ...Bandcamp ...page), and another album out on Carpe Sonum. This man's a machine, with a back-catalogue some thirty albums thick now. To say nothing of all the works he did with former partner Yoshinori Yamazaki.

Oh yeah, I haven't actually gotten into the history of this project, have I? Currently helmed by Kenichi Oka, he and Yoshinori had a solid run as Yamaoka releasing several techno records at the turn of the century. If the Discogs chronology is accurate, they took a break in the mid-'00s, after which Kenichi carried on solo, making the name's portmanteau redundant - I assume it was done with Yoshinori's blessing. Debuting on Databloem probably wasn't a breakout for the project, because Yamaoka was clearly successful enough to have such a robust discography behind its back before appearing on the label. Still, it had to be beneficial to his profile, exposing him to more folks than labels like October Man Recordings, Somehow Recordings, Kazumi, and Secret Station managed.

Anyhow, I grabbed the album Short Films For Long Days, not only because it was a namedrop in my last Yamaoka review, but also because it's a double-LP. Sweet, two CDs worth of Kenichi's hypnotic loops and improv melodies echoing for long stretches! Can't wait to dive right into- Holy shit! This album just lead-drops you right into it, opener Close Line immediately hitting you with a crash and busy arps. No warning at all. Geez, let me at least get my bearings first, will you Oka-san?

Actually, the track does quickly settle into familiar Yamaoka territory, and at nine minutes, is the longest track on CD1. This disc is essentially the 'techno' half of the album, with loops in play often percolating in intense rhythmic fashion. Some tracks, like To Morning, Expand, and Latch, even get close to having actual drum kicks. Others wouldn't be far removed from trance, if given a bit more bass business (Leap Year, Pict Time). Still, Yamaoka's freeform approach to crafting tracks is in full display here, everything coming off like sketches while jamming with his gear. 'Short films' indeed.

If CD1 is the uptempo side, then clearly CD2 is on the downbeat – or at least as downbeat as Yamaoka can go while still employing endless strings of pulsing loops. The opener here is called Night Train, and if that doesn't feel an apt title for the tunes I've heard thus far, almost like riding along tracks down some dark tunnel. Generally though, CD2 is a calmer session of music, the sketching aspect making more sense with tones lingering longer on drifting echoes. Cool stuff all round, but forgive me for hoping my next Yamaoka outing is a little more structured. Maybe with Purl again?

Dance With The Dead - The Shape

Neuropa Records: 2016/2017

Yep, another Dance With The Dead review. This will be the last of 'em for quite a while though, their remaining releases way up in the front-half of the alphabet. Believe you me, it's gonna' be a lo-o-o-ong while before I loop around to the beginning of my queue again. How long? Hell, I'll be lucky to finish off my current clutch of 'S' albums before the start of spring!

The Shape is a significant album from the band for yours truly, in that it's the only one I have a physical copy of. How can that be though? Isn't the whole catch of bulk-buying a Bandcamp discography that it must be in a digital format? Erm, no? Like, I just did the same for Suntrip Records, not to mention others offering their catalogues on whole as well (Ultimae Records, to namedrop just one). But yes, it is rare, and typically only done through label offers, not artist pages. Plus, it's not like Dance With The Dead had such a deal available either. Did I simply buy a CD from the label re-issuing their catalogue then? Huh, never occurred to me to check out Neuropa Records. What are they, the Belgian version of Blood Music?

Regardless, I have this CD for no other reason than I bought it from the band's swag table. Yes, instead of laying down my last $20 on a couple more 'cheap' beers, I got myself a souvenir instead. Look, the counter was taken mostly up by Magic Sword's paraphernalia: t-shirts, stickers, posters, comic books, etc. All Dance With The Dead had was CDs and vinyl. Gotta' stick with what I collect, y'know?

Anyhow, let's talk about The Shape. As if the John Carpenter influences weren't clear before, the title comes from the actual name for Halloween slasher-star Michael Myers, as often referred to in script and novelization. Obviously this is common knowledge for fans of the franchise, but I feel like I'd be tut-tutted if I didn't at least mention it. I'm actually a bit surprised the cover-art didn't incorporate it somehow, instead going with this campy gothic horror motif instead.

Their third full-length, The Shape is Dance With The Dead finding their final form, hitting all the sweet spots that makes their blend of synthwave and shredding metal so endearing. The straight-up head-bangers (Eyes Of Madness, Screams And Whispers, Riot... holy Hell, is this one epic!), the slower, rugged chuggers (Diabolic), the more melodic driven numbers (Her Ghost, Watching You), the obligatory 'ballads' (Adrift, Quietly Into The Night), and that one track that feels like an entirely different genre. Seriously, add a little acid and Horizon would be a dead-ringer for some vintage S.U.N. Project. Buttrock goa will never die!

A good introduction to the band, then? Well, you could say that about any of their records after 2015, but yes, if you still haven't been zombie bit by them, The Shape is as solid as any of their albums to get infected by.

Unusual Cosmic Process - Between Continents

AstroPilot Music: 2016

It's been a spell since I checked out AstroPilot. Let's see what he's been up to! *clickity-clickity clack* Ooh, started his own label. With lots of artists getting rep' on it. Most of which I'm not familiar with in the slightest. Welp, better get to it. *zzi-i-i-ip* What? That's the sound of me opening my digital purse to splurge on some new music. Why, what'd you think that bit of onomatopoeia was?

So, Unusual Cosmic Process (or UCP from here out, because whoof, that's a mouthful). This is a project from Alexander Akopov, who's been making music in the psy sphere for the past decade. A few aliases had some traction on Ovnimoon Records (Optical Report, Psypheric), but UCP has been the most fruitful of them all (so sayeth Lord Discogs). Makes some sense, this alias being his primary outlet for music on the down beat. Of the twenty items Mr. Akopov has released as UCP, the bulk are LPs. His early ones floated about different labels (Ovnimoon, Uxmal, Sentimony, Gliese 581c), but has mostly settled in with AstroPilot Music for the last while. This here Between Continents was his debut with Dmitriy's print.

Whenever a producer starts their own label, the tendency is to cultivate artists of similar style, so I wasn't surprised that UCP would sound somewhat like AstroPilot. I didn't expect his sonic palette to go quite so opulent though, exceeding even the cosmic grandeur of the Solar Walk series. Mr. Akopov says this album's meant to be something of a sight-seeing tour, taking in various vistas of our planet from its highest regions to its deepest depths, carried along by acoustic airships. Sounds like fun, and opener Acoustic Levitation certainly holds little back in its lift-off, wide-screen synth pads with spritely treatments such that even 36 would get weak in the knees. A psy-chill rhythm joins the action midway through as the track keeps building and building until... oh, it just kinda' ends on pads, a bit abruptly at that.

Wendall Sea carries on with the extra-ultra backing pads, with a heavier beat in support, but mostly plays out like the opener. Sekki opts for something a little more mysterious (bathyscaphe submersion will have that effect), while Atolla Wyvillei... gosh, this sure sounds a lot like Weddell Sea again, the same beat and everything. Granted, the psy scene often recycles rhythms, but this is practically a copy-and-paste here. Not that the tracks are bad, it's just a very apparent thing with two so close together in an album.

As Between Continents plays out, it never lets off the gas pedal in sonic splendour – even the Ambient Remix of The Clouds has an aggressively groovy bassline. It's almost too much, if I'm honest, seldom letting the listener take a breather, save at the start of every track. Imagine the tour-guide insistently telling you how awesome all these sights are, when I sometimes just want to lay back and take them in at my own leisure.

Council Estate Electronics - Arktika

Glacial Movements Records: 2016

Ah, it's good to be back in my familiar wheel-house: obscure ambient drone from an artist I have never heard of before. At least, I think that's my familiar wheel-house. Sure feels like it sometimes, especially after I discover a new label that piques my interest, going on a mini-splurge of material. Like this here Glacial Movements Records, a print that's been around for fifteen years now, housing such recognizable names like Rapoon, bvdub, and Celer. What good is such discovery without broadening one's exposure to new artists though?

So it goes with Council Estate Electronics, the sort of egg-headed alias that has me remembering such geeked out projects like Higher Intelligence Agency, New London School Of Electronics, and Institute Of Frequency & Optical Research. I have not a clue what this is all about, but tickle me intrigued for some polar drone with that kind of name.

Opening track Urals kicks things off on a rather brittle, dubby foot. A heavy, languid beat moves things along as distant percussion rattles in the distance, all the while what sounds like a muted fog horn pierces the murk. At nearly eleven minutes long, there's enough time for subtle tones and harmonies to weave about that noise, making the track rather laid back and chill for its runtime. Don't get too relaxed though, as follow-up 567 foot 33,500 ton goes quite abrasive, a noisy, buzzy sound dominating over another heavy, slow dub techno beat. Man, it almost reminds me of the industrial sonic grind from The Bug's collaboration with Earth on Concrete Desert. Say, who's behind Council Estate Electronics anyhow?

*one Discoggian dive later*

Hah! There is a connection after all! Turns out one-half of C.E.E. is Justin Broadrick, who frequently works with Kevin Martin under many aliases (Techno Animal, Zonal, The Curse Of The Golden Vampire, God). He's also been part of many industrial noise and death metal bands over the years, including founding Godflesh. There's many more, of which I'll be here forever name-dropping them all. Suffice to say, Justin's done a lot. Along the way, he paired up with former Godflesh member Dermot Dalton to make analog-based experimental music. Right, the background sorted, let's carry on with Arktika.

Actually, there isn't much more to say. If The Bug association wasn't a dead giveaway, we're firmly in industrial dub's domain. Big, cavernous beats, sometimes with distortion redlining way beyond reasonable levels (Rosatom, Polar Star), other times going as minimalist as dub techno of the '00s (Type LK-60YA, 60 Megawatts). 50 Let Pobody does a shimmery, cascading effect upon its dub treatments, while Liquefied Natural Gas edges out on the fringe of spaced-out reggae dub, but by and large, Arktika is mostly a clinical take on the genre. Just, y'know, performed in a noisy, industrialist sort of way.

Honestly, I'm quite surprised by this album, in that I had no idea Glacial Movements Records would also offer dub techno of this sort. What else might I uncover with this label?

Rapoon - Song From the End Of The World

Glacial Movements Records: 2016

Just another dark ambient album, that's all this was meant to be. I've reviewed countless of these, enjoyed most of them for their sonic narratives and explorations of dronescapes. I've even let my mind drift into escapism with some offerings, into realms while not hospitable, certainly provide solace in sensory deprivation. I certainly never let them 'get to me', affect my mood to such a degree that I need to step back for a bit, come back when I'm of better frame of mind. Much, much later. That Rapoon fella' though, he has a way of getting under your brain, tapping into parts of your psyche that seems all too willing to surrender its autonomy, utterly succumbing to whatever vibe he's crafting. And if that vibe happens to be an 'end of the world' motif, well, you can imagine that having the effect of bringing down your whole day.

Not that this isn't untapped material where Robin's discography is concerned. A good chunk of his Zoviet France days was spent twisting tapes into a weird, hypnotic cacophony of post-industrial horrors. As his career transitioned into Rapoon, however, his sonic travels generally drifted further away from such bleakness, at times even coming across jubilant while still adhering to those most primitive of musical instincts. By contrast, Song From The End Of The World sounds like a return to those roots. Not to say that Mr. Storey hasn't dabbled into Zoviet France styled stuff between then and here – I can't claim to have heard every Rapoon album – but of what I've listened to, this album re-captures those apocalyptic vibes quite nicely. And by nicely, I mean terrifying.

He doesn't waste any time getting right into the thick of it either. We Travelled In Waves does that warping loop-craft much of Rapoon's music entails, this time with a bleak piano and bell tones endlessly repeating while white noise hiss marinates everything in a suffocating stench. This goes on for quite a while, before abruptly shifting into eerie, twitchy minimalism, and discordant orchestral swells, all the while maintaining that hypnotic repetitiveness. When the piano returns, it's almost a sigh of relief, remarkable considering how unsettling it sounded at the start.

And it only gets more hopeless from there. A Listening Ice sounds like wailing wraiths trapped under Antarctic glaciers. A Sky Beckons Down brings in ghostly voices and tongues. A Prophecy Lies Under adds an orchestral to all the chanting. An Answer In Ice twists sounds in such a way they sound like flesh-ripping polar winds. And to tie things up, The Sky Dances In Green lays everything to waste. Serious 'World Of Ruin' vibes with this one, lasting well over eleven minutes. Take that 'leap of faith', Celes, you're better off.

It feels weird recommending Song From The End Of The World. It's not a headspace one should actively indulge in. If you're at all curious of the psychological power of dark ambient though, by all means give it a go.

Dynatron - The Legacy Collection Vol II

Blood Music: 2016/2019

A slight correction on the previous Dynatron Legacy Collection: these compilations just recently saw hard copy editions released, digital versions first appearing in 2016. That would explain why it took me so long to actually pick these up, what with holding out for CD options and all. I'm not sure what surprises me more, that it took Blood Music three years to make said CDs and vinyl, or that it's taken me two additional years to actually review them.

Okay, probably the former. You'd think the label would have wanted to capitalize on the trendy interest in all things synthwave while it was still hot. Were the pressing plants booked so far in advance for up-front material, that poor Dynatron was simply shuffled that far down the queue? Or maybe they were trying to time it such that a pair of re-issue compilations would drum up interest in the artist's return? Sadly, the former still seems more likely. It's been two years and still but a single EP from Dynatron.

Anyhow, The Legacy Collection Vol. II rounds up all of Jeppe Hasseriis' wayward compilation material for a tidy nine-tracker. Which honestly isn't that much music, making me wonder why this wasn't just lumped in with the first Legacy Collection as a double-LP. If there's enough interest to buy two separate volumes, surely there's just as much interest in buying the same amount in one package? Maybe so, but when regular pressing plant time already comes at a premium, can you imagine trying to get a double-LP pressed? Just ain't worth it, mang!

Still, I was interested enough in this material to spring for it. After all, it includes the track that first got me intrigued by Dynatron, Jovian Giants, as appeared on the digital-only Aphasia Records compilation Artificial Afterlife. Surely the rest would be just as dope! Well, the other Aphasia item that opens this CD up, Stars Of The Night from Futura Compilation, is nice enough. Doesn't quite hit with the same cosmic adventure other Dyantron tunes do, but maybe this was meant to be a stargazing tune.

Can't say I was as keen on follow-up Dust Of The Saturn, which already hurts my grammatical senses. This one comes from The 80s Dream Compilation Tape – Volume 2 on NewRetroWave (not actually released on tape), and if this tune's anything to go by, taps into the cheesier synth-pop vein of synthwave – too retro, not enough future. I kinda' want to say the same for Out Of The Center, but because this came out on a compilation called PLUTO: a synth odyssey from the non-N.A.S.A. affiliated New Horizons Records, I just can't hate on it. The little planetoid got dumped on enough by the 'proper' planet community, it needs all the love it can get!

There's some okay stuff after, including a few tunes with guitar action, but far from Dynatron's best work. Guess he saved his choice material for the albums.

Dynatron - The Legacy Collection Vol. I

Blood Music: 2016/2019

Those initial re-issues of Dynatron's first two albums must have done well for Blood Music, as following their release, we got The Legacy Collection. Two whole volumes of it, in fact! Or they were simply stop-gap items tiding us over until Jeppe Hasseriis released another long-player. Hey, it worked for Perturbator, one of the label's hottest talents at the time. Only trouble is the Dynatron project went relatively silent after that. I believe he did some touring, but on the production front, practically nothing since 2016's The Rigel Axiom EP. It was four years before he put out another EP, Surveillance, which in synthwave years may as well be a decade. I'm sure Jeppe has his reasons for keeping Dynatron on hold for so long, but in a scene filled with fly-by-night artists, absence does tend to lead to forgetfulness.

Which is partially why it took me so long to check out these Legacy Collection albums. I honestly thought another LP was right around the corner from Aeternus, and when it did not materialize, thoughts of Dynatron simply drifted on by. It was only another of Blood Music's CD sales that I spotted them and thought, “Oh yeah, Dynatron. Haven't heard from him in a while. May as well snatch these up while they're still available.”

And you may think, he only put out two albums, just how much odds 'n' sods material can he possibly have to warrant two Legacy Collections? Not that much, to be honest, which makes both volumes rather odd. For instance, Vol I takes most of his assorted EP material and serves it up as is. That includes Throttle Up, Flashbacks, plus a track from the Fireburner EP (not Fireburner though). These are arranged as though you're playing the EPs one after the other, which isn't that big a deal, except Flashbacks included an Intro of starship ambience, someone (or something?) inquiring a computer over the status of cryo-sleeping crew. Hey, cool beans and all, but this comes smack in the middle of this CD. Wouldn't it have made more sense to have the Intro at the start?

Eh, whatever, it's not a big deal, just niggling nitpicking for its own sake. What matters is the music on hand, and the two EPs featured here deliver. The Throttle Up material is all about that cosmic adventure vibe, space synth played at a synthwave tempo – yes, there is a difference. 37 Million Horsepower even features a little guitar shredding, perfect sounds for hot-rodding on meteorites. Following that mid-LP Intro, we're into Flashbacks, a much slower, chill collection of tunes. While Save The Moment has me reminded of Weather Network muzak, Cruiser is really getting in on that Jan Hammer stylee. The lone Fireburner cut that isn't Fireburner - Cosmo Black - is fairly standard Dynatron stuff, but a nice capper on this collection. As is Looking Back Part II, if you sprung for the CD. Which I did. Both of them, in fact!

Lorenzo Montanà + Mick Chillage ‎- Deviazioni Cosmiche

Carpe Sonum Records: 2016

I generally like Lorenzo. I generally like Mick. Yet between the two, I don't think I've heard a solo work of theirs that makes me sit up and shout, “That's the JAM!” Not that you'd expect such a proclamation from a pair of producers who typically reside in the ambient techno domain, but I know I've thought such things in their collaborative projects. Mr. Chillage in particular has had several such moments impact my brain matter when working as Autumn Of Communion or Skua Atlantic. And that doesn't mean such a track doesn't exist within their vast discographies that I've yet to hear (Mick's Over Ingia on Saudade is the closest yet), but I do wonder if such a moment will ever leap out. Maybe I should have sprung for that twenty-five CD box-set of Chillage's discography to find out?

What I'm getting at is with their powers combined, surely Montanà and Chillage might produce such a “JAM!” I've been waiting for. They certainly have similar lineages: early career markers with Pete Namlook's Fax+ label, some trying times with another label after, continued releases on well-regarded prints like ...txt, Fantasy Enhancing, and Carpe Sonum Records. I like to imagine the two crossed paths somewhere in the Carpe Sonum office, started sharing war stories about their time dealing with the unmentionable one, and felt enough creative synergy to have a stab at a collaborative project together.

I dunno though. Something doesn't seem to quite click whenever I play Deviazioni Cosmiche. It's like Lorenzo and Mick are two puzzle pieces that look like they should fit together, but are meant to go in different parts of completed picture. It makes a bit of sense, Mr. Montanà's approach to ambient techno more on the IDM side of things, Mr. Chillage's more on the dubby side of things. It's not completely incompatible, but there are many stretches throughout this album that feels like two guys doing some low-key ambient techno noodling with little direction of where each piece should go. Which is fine if that's the intent, but man, it can't be a good sign when whole chunks of Deviazioni Cosmiche just flutter away from my memory membranes minutes after playing.

Ironically, this dilemma is the result of one of the more interesting tracks, A Legacy. It's a gentle piece of ambience, with a tasty touch of vintage Fax+ psychedelia. Trouble is it's the second track, and when the surrounding pieces are more upbeat, this blissful tune lulls you into such a sense of calm, you kinda' zone out from everything else. Which is a shame, because in isolation, tracks like Vinctos Temporis and Microscopic+Mechanisms+Moon have plenty of nice things going for them (being upwards of fifteen minutes in length each helps).

It's not until second-to-last track The Last Pulse Of The Universe that my attention is forcibly dragged back, a surprisingly brisk tune from these two of spacey electro and... oh my, is that an acid solo? Damn, now that's the JAM!

Vector Lovers - Carousel EP

self release: 2016

Another of Martin Wheeler's yearly Vector Lovers EPs released through Bandcamp, though this unfortunately may have the fewest talking points. Solstice, Pale Blue Star, and even Road / To Ruin are more traditional EPs, a batch of four or five unique tracks, whereas Carousel is more of a single, one tune with different versions of it.

That in of itself is something of a talking point, most Vector Lovers singles having at most one remix to their name. Even in his Soma Quality Recordings era, very few of his tunes would have someone other that Martin provide a rub. Futures In Plastic, Microtron, Nostalgia 4 The Future were the main ones, plus a few others for a remix EP to coincide with Electrospective. I suppose you could count the 'remastered' tracks for that same compilation as remixes too, sounding rather different compared to the original cuts from many years past.

Any Vector Lovers track having multiple versions of it is rare, is what I'm getting at, and this here Carousel EP has four versions of its titular tune. I sifted through the bulk of his catalogue as archived with Lord Discogs, and this is the lone such item. Though honestly, it's only there because I submitted it (Solstice EP too, if I'm being modest), so whether there are other un-submitted examples out there, I don't know. I've just concerned myself with those EPs on his Bandcamp page. A strange fate I have found, chronicling Vector Lovers' Bandcamp singles within Lord Discogs' tomes.

The primary track is a fairly typical tech-house offering from Mr. Wheeler. Spritely melodies carry things along, while an unfussy rhythm with occasional splashes of white-noise wash keep a steady groove. It's almost proggy, back when prog was all about the minimalist twinkly sounds in the mid-'00s, which makes Carousel kinda' retro for a 2016 track. Definitely out of the norm for a Vector Lovers track though.

Carousel (Paris 92) is more in the usual electro wheel-house, the beat an odd soft thump that sounds like someone rubbing their foot along a carpet. Never mind that, it's the melody that dominates, a vintage melancholic bleepy electro ditty you can always count on Martin crafting. You'd think Carousel (Dub) would strip it out then, focusing more on the rhythmic portions, but no, the twinkly lead is here too, just subdued, more prominence given to the backing synths. I actually find this better than the original, but perhaps I'm just a sucker for the spaciousness of the sounds on display. Carousel (Ghosts) is the 'experimental' offering, minimal bleeps and tense strings teasing out the melody of the original. Some bell tones join in, but doesn't lead to anything of note before the track fades out. Definitely the sort of filler tune you'd find at the end of an album, or a B2 of an EP.

And that's all there is to Carousel. A nice tune with some decent variations, but little essential to the Vector Lovers canon.

Jacob Newman - Biospherica

Carpe Sonum Records: 2016/2018

I've talked about Jacob Newman before, but not specifically. My prior exposure to him came paired with Devin Underwood, whom I've touched upon individually as Specta Ciera. Seems only fair I finally give the other half of Gapfield a look-see, though he doesn't have quite so robust a discography as Devin. It's a respectable collection of music, but not a touch on his collaborator's body of work. What's weird is despite the two having done solo work and pairings with other artists, I can't shake the notion of Jacob and Devin forever tied at the occipital lobe. Is it because my first exposure was their contribution to that megazord-sized Pete Namlook tribute box-set Die Welt Ist Klang? Or that Sending The Past was really that good? Sure, let's go with those.

Mr. Newman's story seems typical of most ambient artists of the modern age. He started out with a few albums on netlabel Earth Mantra, which I can't help but suspect got lost in the shuffle. Oh yes, they were one of those 'release all the things!' ambient netlabels, almost two-hundred items in their half-decade lifespan. Mr. Underwood had also put out a Specta Ciera album there, which is how I assume the two crossed paths to start collaborating for dataObscura and other assorted self-release options. Jacob kept making his own music though, self-releasing nearly a dozen digital EPs. This particular album on Carpe Sonum Records was apparently produced around the same time. Or at least, was gathering many of his field recordings, before committing them to a concept album. Biospherica thus became his first full-length solo work since the Earth Mantra years, half a decade on.

And upon seeing that title, along with 'field recordings', I'm sure you can't help but wonder if there's any Geir Jenssen influence here. A tiny bit perhaps, if only that Geir's approach to 'field recording ambient' was so genre defining, everything after couldn't help but be influenced by it to some degree. But no, if there's any name I'd drop in comparison here, it'd be Andrew Heath's spacious, 'lowercase' minimalism, and even then that's only for a couple tracks. Or maybe Lars Leonhard? There's certainly a lot of dubby warmth in Biospherica, which makes sense as Jacob's intent is to invoke feelings of spring and summer, lifeforms blooming into activity as the winter slumber ebbs away. Perhaps I should just discuss the music, and not keep trying to make comparisons. Oh, but it's so much easier doing that.

Actually, I think I've discussed all that needs to be said here. Nine tracks make up Biospherica, most hovering in an unfussy six-to-nine minute range (the lone 'short' track, three-minute long Humidity Dub, comes off quite slight as a result). Some go for more of a mysterious vibe (Bats At Dusk, Fade To Night), but we're generally in a tranquil setting here, with gentle pad work, soft spritely melodies, and sounds of nature burbling underneath it all. Recommended for beating back the frost-bitten doldrums.

Tommy '86 - Transhumanism

Blood Music: 2016

So you're a Finnish death metal label that lucked into a deal with one of the hottest rising stars in one of the hottest rising genres to emerge in the past decade. Never mind it's totally outside your usual fare, this 'synthwave' thing seems to have more than enough buzz such that fans of the stuff will flock to your label regardless, especially if you offer up such retro formats as collector's vinyl and tape editions. It's not enough having that one super-hot name on your roster though. Gotta' start rounding up whoever else this 'Perturbator' chap might be associated with.

So in comes fellow French synthwaver Dan Terminus. Also comes in American GosT, plus adding Dane Dynatron. Hmm, need more French in this retro love-in, is there anyone else? Ah, this here Tommy '86 chap, he'll do. And that Carpenter Brut guy too. Maybe put out feelers for a 'Hollywood Burns' while we're at it.

Actually, Tommy '86 was a shoe-in for the Blood Music bump, running in the same circles as Perturbator for as long as there was a French synthwave scene. Heck, he may have been the one to coin 'outrun' as a stylistic variation on the genre, one of his earliest Bandcamp singles titled as such. I distinctly recall 'Tommy '86' as part of that conversation, for no other reason than seeing a retro dude with “'86” in their handle made complete and cliched sense. Mr. Féret may have realized it too, dropping the “'86” part shortly after this album's release. Now he simply goes by Tommy, or as Lord Discogs calls him, Tommy (76). Huh, doesn't sound as '80s, that.

Tommy wasn't quite as active a producer as his brethren, though certainly ambitious. Prior to this album, he'd self-released a twenty-eight tracker called Outer Space Adventurer, nothing less than a sci-fi soundtrack for a film that would never get made. Surely he could take that narrative prowess into a release with a little more promotional power behind it, especially Perturbator had proven it could be done with Dangerous Days.

There's definitely a theme going on with Transhumanism, of rising machines and their ever-growing dominance over the remnants of humanity, such that we'll all be one, singular cybernetic entity. Or something. And the music on offer doesn't hold back in selling that oppressive vibe, all the while synths grandiose and gross blast forth as only the best darksynth is wont to do. Some are more menacing (L.V.T.H.N. Central Unit, Command And Control, The Shutdown Of Humanity), others are more propulsive and invigorating (Doppelgänger, A.I. Takeover, the titular finale). There's even a couple downtempo cuts, though opener The Rise and semi-closer No Man's Earth makes sense for such moments. Oh, and Perturbator and Dan Terminus lend a musical hand in a couple early tracks, though don't do much to stand out from Tommy's sound.

Honestly, the best thing to say about Transhumanism is that it's more of that top-grade French synthwave, but doesn't exceed much beyond that.