ACE TRACKS: February - March 2022

So I got COVID.

This was bound to happen though, wasn't it. My work already puts me on the 'front-line' of potential exposure as it was, and between all the precautions and risk mitigation we did, only a few folks in my sphere ever came down with it in the past two years. With all the mask mandates and crowd limits being lifted though, chance of exposure increased dramatically. Did I catch it from an asymptotic co-worker or customer? Maybe on one of my bus commutes? Perhaps that crowded night club where not a single soul wore a mask? Mysteries upon mysteries.

I suppose I should be thankful it was only a mild bout, the worst of it being a 24 hour period of wet-lung. Could it have been worse had I not been vax'd? Probably, though frankly, this scar currently on the side of my tongue is more bothersome than whatever COVID threw at me. There's always something, it seems. Remember when I used to just talk about music here, not all these Real World Events constantly interjecting? Speaking of, here's an ACE TRACKS playlist, the first from Deezer!


Full playlist here.

MISSING ALBUMS:
Various - Deeper 01.02
Autumn Of Communion - Data Space Bass
Various - Coercion Of Deities
The Boats - Do The Boats Dream Of Electric Fritz Pfleumer?
Lucette Bourdin - Drum-atic Atmospheres

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 0%
Percentage Of Rock: 0%
Most “WTF?” Track: Strangely, anything from The Chemical Brothers, as they're total odd men out in this playlist.

No, but seriously, even extending this playlist by an extra month, it seems I listened to exactly two forms of music in all that time: ambient and drum n' bass. That's about it. Sure, there was a Deeper dalliance into prog, plus occasional spurts of ambient techno, but almost none of which could be found on Deezer. My ambient excursions remain about on par of course, but man, all d'at d'n'b. Two albums from Tech Itch Recordings, and two triple-disc offerings from the D&B Arena – I'd say that's enough to overwhelm everyone else. Still, it all makes for a rather funny playlist, jungle rhythms interspersed with ambient interludes.

Lucette Bourdin - Drum-atic Atmospheres

Dark Duck Records/Fantasy Enhancing: 2009/2021

I feel stupid typing this, but I can't cop to y'all: I only just got what the pun in this album's title is. To be fair on my part, it's not like Lucette gave me any reason to expect a pun. Nothing in the bulk of her discography would lead me to believe she was a very punny lass. The Mystery Of The Midnight Sun, Timeless Shore, Soaring Above The Thunder, Raven's Dream, Horse Heaven... all relatively straight-forward titles, right? Even Drums And Repercussions is rather slight on the pun-o-meter. That isn't to say Ms. Bourdin didn't have a sense of humour or anything, just that, far as I can tell, it never reflected in her music. Or maybe she didn't have many opportunities to go there. After all, one of the tracks on here is called My Car Is Broken, I'll Walk.

With a title like Drum-atic Atmospheres, I should be expecting a bevy of crashing taiko drums, or twenty toms as performed by Neil Peart. I wasn't though, because that simply isn't what Lucette Bourdin's about. More honestly, I wasn't expecting it because I didn't clue in that the album's title should have me expecting something dramatic. I suppose Cathedram Jam is rather opulent, though more in a Tangerine Dream sort of way, the only heavy percussion coming in some two-thirds deep into an eleven minute long piece, and nothing anyone familiar with world beat loops wouldn't have heard. I was more surprised at hearing those burbly electronics at the start, triggering some Cowgirl from Underworld memories.

But nay, the album opens in rather tranquil, meditative form, Flight Through Infinite Stars less traversing the kosmiche grande, than lazily taking in the distant splendour. If that track doesn't impart feelings of calm and serenity, then The Dew Is On The Grass certainly will, if not in tone, then at least in title. The sweeping synth strings and angelic choirs sure feels like we're catching a little morning dawn piercing through velvet clouds though. Oh, and the most dramatic these drums get remain the soft pitter-patter of tribal rhythms.

Lucette gets a little fancy on the delay effects in the moody Last Small Spark, while Washing Day features jangly rhythms panning across the stereo spectrum while synth tones drone and static... fuzzes? More an experimental piece, that, but the aforementioned My Car Is Broke, I'll Walk certainly lives up the 'dramatic atmospheres' motif of the album's title, in an ol' school Vangelis sort of way. Grand piano reverb into the furthest reaches of the galaxy, yo'.

A few assorted experimental pieces follow, and Spanish Winds closes things out in another outing I can't help but draw Vangelis comparisons to. Whenever the Greek musician would get his drone-tone on at least, but with a little Mediterranean flair. Much of Drum-atic Atmospheres have me thinking of '70s synth wizards, come to think of it. Does this mean Ms. Bourdin was a time-travelling wizard, and heir of Merlin mayhaps? Mmm, no, wrong European lineage, methinks.

Lucette Bourdin - Drum Repercussions

Dark Duck Records/Fantasy Enhancing: 2009/2021

Wish I realized this sooner. Could have broken up these two Lucette Bourdin albums from each other, book-ending the two DnB Arena releases. How was I to know Drums And Repercussions would for some reason get retitled Drum Repercussions for this box-set? Actually, I technically knew it when I first ripped the CDs to my computer, and WMP retitled it to its proper name, hence why it slotted after Drum&Bass Arena 2019. That's kinda' remarkable, come to think of it, that WMP would even have such an obscure album already on file. Guess there has been over a decade for other souls to have done the deed. In any event, because the version I have is titled Drum Repercussions, I'm going with that, even if it has thrown my orderly alphabetical queue slightly askew. *eye twitches OCD'ily*

Anyhow, Drums And Repercussions came out in what was undoubtedly Lucette's most productive year, 2009. In fact, both of her 'drum' albums came out that year, though this one earlier than Drum-atic Atmospheres. It was only a few months prior that she had introduced any sort of rhythms into her ambient pieces, which I already covered with Colors, Shapes & Rhythms. I also felt those outings came off as something of a feeling-out process, Ms. Bourdin making use of acquired drum loop tools but doing little to utilize them as her own. There were hints of potential, for sure, but I'd need to hear some something a little more dynamic if I was to be won over.

Well, I can't say her beats are dynamic in Drum Repercussions, but they are better used, mostly instilling a tribal, meditative rhythm while synth drones carry on. Opener Jungle Steam certainly imparts a feeling of gently cruising down some old-growth realm of the tropics without falling into cliche, a sense of mystery and awe while ancient civilizations are revealed beneath dense foliage. Wish I could say follow-up Mile High Boogie maintained that vibe though, Lucette's choice of drum loop and odd tub-dub not really syncing well; still, lovely synth tones.

From there, we get a variety of soft ambient techno (Picnic By The Creek, And So It Goes, The River of Ghosts), New Agey tribal numbers (Hymn To The Rising Sun, Dancing With Bears, Follow Me Home), and Berlin-School opulence (Song Of Creation, Glowing In The Dark). And... gosh, for ten tracks, that's honestly a fair amount of diversity. I'll grant I've yet to take in even a quarter of Lucette's total output, but I feel safe claiming her wheel-house generally remains on the ambient spectrum.

Still, if Drums And Repercussions is any indicator, she was definitely feeling more confident as a musical artist at this point, willing to branch out and mostly succeeding in her efforts doing so. Yeah, there's still a couple tracks here that don't mesh as well as they could, but on the whole, Drum Repercussions is the strongest LP I've yet heard in this box-set. Only sixteen more to go!

Various - Drum & Bass Arena 2019

Drum&BassArena: 2019

Right, all the backstory and reasoning sorted in the previous Drum & Bass Arena review. No quirks of shipping, or oddities of downloads. I can spend the entirety of this review just talking about the music, all the single tracks, plus the mix sets. But first, a word from our sponsor!

*crickets*

Oh, I don't get money for this. Anyway.

Same as before, three CDs separated into mainstage anthems, moodier deep-tech, and vibey comedowns. CD1 kicks off in good fashion, Chase & Status dropping a little ragga action on our earholes (all praise the Amen Break!), with a few heavy hitters keeping the momentum going. Then Turno's Asylum comes in with a hilarious squeachy sound that I'm sure is meant to sound badass, but is not. At least it's not as clownstep stupid as follow-up Popular from Upgrade. What are those squawking noises, a broken trombone? Maybe it's supposed to be tongue-in-cheek though, what with silly dialog of teen girls desperate to get popular and all. Oh, and can't go without some aggro-bro drumstep in A.M.C.'s Mind The Gap, nosiree.

Not even half-way through CD1, and I'm ready to check out, but without warning, it takes a hard turn into chill territory. Like, it's still mostly uptempo and all, but with a lot of soulful singing, spacious dub, and even liquid funk licks. Wait, isn't this what's intended for CD3? Were there just not enough good anthems in 2019 to fill out CD1, or has even the Arena gotten tired of Pendulum's influence now?

That was unexpected, but nice nonetheless. How does CD2 fare, then? Very deep, very tech, some tracks little more than the lowest registers of bass with 2-step in support – microfunk, basically. Tunes that make better sense when blasting out of towers of PK Soundsystem speakers than whatever rig one has set up at home, I wager. Halfway, things get real ol' school, tracks like Dredger or Mefjus' The Chase sounding like they could have come from Grooverider's Prototype years.

Things were building quite nicely in CD2, but suddenly, it goes all aggro-bro again, as though picking up where it was unceremoniously cut off in CD1. Oh, it's another A.M.C. track, that's why. Set goes ridiculously schizo after, flitting between more broken trombone tunes, mint classic tech-step (DJ Hybrid, whut!), stumbling clownstep (oh, of course it's Shimon), and spaced-out darkside (Brookes Brothers' Every Minute (Bladerunner Remix) - because vintage will never die).

By comparison, CD3 keeps things on an even keel, sparingly venturing beyond the easy-going vibes it sets us off on. The few tracks that do detour – Total Science & Kyo's ragga leaning Murder Tonight, the oddly placed jump-up of Serum's rub on MA2's Hearing Is Believing - are mostly welcome in adding a little spice to the set. Wish I had more to say about CD3, as I do prefer it over the others, but when it goes as it means to go, there's little else my words can add, is there?

Various - Drum & Bass Arena 2015

AEI Music: 2015

About a year ago, I got it in my head that, instead of just waiting around for another anniversary anthology from the Drum & Bass Arena, I ought to scope out their yearly compilations too. Surely there's enough annual material to justify three CDs worth of d'n'b. Perhaps, but I doubt the Arena would be the outlet for such a comprehensive collection. Don't get me wrong, they've done a remarkable job serving as a curator for the junglist mah'seeve since the Web 1.0 days. It's sometimes been a handicap though, focusing on what's the most trendy and popular out there. Granted, the drum 'n' bass scene is remarkably wide and diverse, and the Arena at least dips its toes in many genres, even if others are passed (ain't no Tech Itch Recordings here, no sir).

So I fire up their Bandcamp page, and settle on two releases from their annual series: 2015 and 2019. Something old, something new. Yes, Drum & Bass Arena 2019 is indeed the 'newest' of these, for reasons I'm sure we're all too familiar with by now. As for Drum & Bass Arena 2015... um, I'm technically still waiting for it. I haven't a clue what happened, but they haven't shipped the CDs (I did receive 2019), despite having an 'estimated to ship' notice on it. Haven't been able to contact anyone about it, and am well past the 'get a refund' window by now. Besides, I still have the digital download of 2015, and surely that's enough, right? Well, not quite.

I'm not sure why, but the digital version of 2015 only includes fifty-two tracks of the sixty that makes up the CDs. Also, unlike later Bandcamp releases of D&BArena CDs, 2015 doesn't have a continuous mix option. Hey, swell beans having unmixed tracks and all, but something tells me I'd appreciate this selection more with the beats and drops coming relentless and rapid fire. Not to mention those missing eight tunes.

Anyhow, the music. Names I'm plenty familiar with show up – TC, Calbire, Calyx, Spor, Black Sun Empire, Total Science – and a whole lot more I'm not. Which is good, the point of annual retrospectives offering some shine to the underground and unknown. Honestly though, the production homogeneity among many of them is so rampant, you could tell me half of them are the same guy, and I wouldn't be the wiser. Hey, genres are genres for a reason.

Best I can glean from the tracks I do have, CD1 of 2015 mostly features d'n'b's version of full-on tear-out anthems and whatnot: the Pendulum continuum. CD2 goes deeper into tech-step's domain, even glancing sideways a bit towards drumstep, before unloading its own anthems for the end. CD3 has the most soulful tunes of this collection, pure afterhours vibes. Or bus ride home, as the case may be. Isn't it funny, that d'n'b saves its chill stuff for the comedown, rather than a pre-party patio soundtrack that, say, deep house occupies?

Rapoon - Downgliding

Carpe Sonum Novum: 2015

Starting a label as a spiritual successor to Pete Namlook's Fax +49-69/450464 is all well and good, but surely Carpe Sonum Records has greater aspirations than being an outlet for modern ambient techno musicians. You bet, and after a few years shaking things out with their main label, an off-shoot emerged with the handle of Carpe Sonum Novum. Far as I can tell, this sub-label mostly features music that isn't quite in line with the vintage Fax+ stylee: techno dub, modern classical, future jazz, acid IDM, and the like. Gabriel Le Mar has released a small pile of CDs here, as well as Carpe Sonum Prime regulars Mick Chillage, Thomas Heckmann, and Krystian Shek.

For my inaugural dive into Carpe Sonum Novum, however, I'm going with a little more Rapoon, because we can never go wrong with a little more Rapoon. Unless it's another album like Song From The End Of The World - brrr, it still sends shivers down my spine. Downgliding isn't like that one though. In fact, it's unlike any of the previous three Rapoon albums I've reviewed, though that probably isn't saying much. With a discography as vast as Robin Storey's, odds are good you're getting variety aplenty, never knowing quite what you'll get with each project. It's half the fun!

Actually, Downgliding has some similarities to another Rapoon album I've covered, Psi-Transient, in that they both have elements of modern classical – pianos, plucking strings, and the like. However, whereas Psi-Transient fed such music through Robin's industrial grinder, Downgliding plays things mostly straight, which makes sense for a record out on Carpe Sonum Novum. Can't see off-putting noisy assaults meshing well with RCO's Radical Chill Out, yo'.

The fanciest effects we get are offered in the titular opener Travelling Under. The longest track at eleven minutes long, Robin layers minimalist drones in reverse delay, crafting a mood that, while not eerie or uneasy, certainly airs on the side of cryptic. Follow-up Ocean's Pull uses plucking synths while scaling back the reverse delay effects some, and An Edge Of Blue drenches piano and pads tones in them. Most of the remaining tracks flit between drone tones, plucking synths and grand piano pieces (well, about as grand as Pro-Tools pianos can sound, of which Robin admits to in the liner notes ...and are remarkably grand indeed), many utilizing reverse delay in some capacity.

As for a theme linking all these pieces together, let's see if you can glean one from these track titles: A Weight Of Worlds. Ahab's Odyssey. Encircled. Voyage Fall. The Siren's Eyes. Washed Ashore In Alabaster. Yeah, there's a sense of traversing about the bounding main, and with the modern classical approach to it all, a surprisingly 'high art' vibe for a Rapoon album. It's probably a strained comparison, but I'm most reminded of Harold Budd and Brian Eno's The Pearl, another album I had significant 'marine' feels for. If it was performed with a lot of reverb delay, anyway.

The Boats - Do The Boats Dream Of Electric Fritz Pfleumer?

Slaapwel Records: 2011

Before I get into who The Boats are, I should probably get into who Fritz Pfleumer was. Okay, maybe you know Fritz Pfleumer, o' gear-hound of yore, but for most, such a name undoubtedly comes off like a wacky Looney Tunes antagonist. Ahh, you can almost hear it pronounced in Mel Blanc's over-the-top German accent.

But no, Mr. Pfleumer's main contribution to history was nothing less than the invention of the magnetic recording tape. Yes, that tape, as in the source of audio for cassettes, 8-tracks, reel-to-reels, DATs, VHS, and al in between. Almost everything we take for granted in music consumption in the past century can be linked to Fritz' invention, the technology still in use by analogue purists to this day. His name should be on the tongues of far more folks, said in the same breath as the likes of Edison, but a little event called World War II kinda' post-poned any mass marketing or production of his revolutionary recording technique. It wasn't a terribly good time to be a German inventor during those years.

Knowing all this, it makes sense, then, that The Boats were inspired in naming their Slaapwel contribution as an album paying tribute to ol' Fritz. Erm, if you even know who The Boats are. I honestly don't know much about them, beyond whatever Lord Discogs tells me. Founded by Andrew Hargreaves and Craig Tattersall, later joined by Danny Norbury, their catalogue contains over a dozen albums, with piles upon piles of side-projects, solo joints, alternate aliases, and collaborative works among all three. I can't be arsed to deep-dive into all this for more context, but from what I can easily glean, they love themselves some tape loop experimentation, often crafting fuzzy, twee indie-pop chill tunes around it. Quite pleasant stuff, if that's your thing, which sometimes is my thing, but again, so much of it ...just so much. Do The Boats Dream Of Electric Fritz Pfleumer? probably wasn't the best jumping on point, but eh, how could I resist another album with cover art of a boat locked in ice?

Right off the bat, the tape hiss and analogue fuzz is in full effect, practically overwhelming what minimal sound and tone makes its way through. Sparse plok-pok percussion, a lazy drone that seems to sway as though gently bobbing on waves, while intermittent bell chimes, guitar plucking, and other assorted instruments break up any monotony. Not that The Boats do anything to actively draw your attention to such sounds. You're supposed to be falling asleep to this, after all, and everything's so quiet you'd have to actually crank the stereo to hear much of it over the persistent sonic fuzz.

If you do manage to stay awake for the single track's thirty-six minute length, things do get more 'active' as we move along. Midway, a more prominent string section emerges, while the drone tone grows stronger, even overtaking the endless tape hiss. Almost seems menacing compared the earlier tranquility. Hopefully you'll have nodded off by then.

Higher Intelligence Agency - Discatron

Headphone: 2020

*PREVIOUSLY, ON EMCRITIC...*

Man, what I wouldn't give for something new [from The Higher Intelligence Agency]. Something new... something new... something new...

*AND NOW, THE CONTINUATION!*

When I left the last HIA review off on that cliff-hanger, it was with full intent of Discatron being that “something new... something new...” item. Wouldn't you know it though, Bobby Bird released another item since then, and a full LP at that, Song Of The Machine. Goodness, that's more music from the Agency this decade than the previous two combined! Heck, you'd have to go even further back for any solo material. Something must have lit quite the creative spark under Bobby's muse to have put out two whole new joints in such (relatively) rapid succession. Methinks it was uploading his catalogue to Bandcamp that did the trick. Revisiting one's past artistic accomplishments has a habit of doing that.

Given that massive gap between Birmingham Frequencies and Discatron, surely Mr. Bird has gathered all manner of new toys to tinker with, new sonic roads left unexplored, fresh angles to approach his songcraft. Hah, no, not really. Seems HIA has taken the B12 route in maintaining his distinct style of ambient-bleep techno-dub, just giving it a modern production spit-shine. And frankly, I doubt fans of HIA, myself included, would have it any other way. When you already have a unique approach to music making, one that honestly has never been replicated or duplicated after thirty years in the business, there's little sense in messing with that formula.

And the titular opener of this EP allays any worry folks may have of that. Chirping, singing bleeps, wobbly acid bassline, and dubby percussion that's tight and crisp, with a vibe that keeps things firmly tongue-in-cheek, never letting anything grow tedious or self-serious as dub techno is so wont to do. The only thing that keeps Discatron in the here and now and not some long, lost older tune is just how cavernous the dub delay reaches now.

Second track 3P mostly focuses on Bird's brand of broken beat with acid in support, reverb effects wishing and washing about as the rhythm cruises along. B-Theory, the track that first clued me in that HIA was even on the rise again, really pulls on those vintage Artificial Intelligence feels, less pulpy than other Bobby works. Finally, Sound Matter goes about as deep into dub as you'll ever hear HIA, a languid pace for a slow burner of a moody tune. Oh, and the digital version of Discatron includes an experimental piece called Colourmotion. Is probably more interesting for those into musique concrete, and I'm sure Bobby had fun twiddling nobs in getting some of these drone tones, but I'm more about his cool grooves, y'dig?

So a solid (motion) return for HIA, all said. As for Song Of The Machine, eh, I dunno. Looks like an 'experimental Steampunk' album to me, and I prefer my HIA pulp-fiction indulgences '50s sci-fi.

ASC & Inhmost - Dimensional Space

Auxiliary: 2021

Keeping pace with Mr. Clements' ambient output on Silent Season is all well and good, but I know he's released other forms of music elsewhere. If not his older d'n'b works, then maybe some of that techno shi' I've heard him rinse out live. Dude's been hawking his wares across many labels though, making it a bit of a challenge in figuring out where one should follow. I suppose his own Auxiliary is as good a place as any. Can't deny all the space themed releases are tantalizing offerings.

And... it's more ambient. Huh. Guess Silent Season isn't his sole outlet for his excursions into the beatless genre after all. Given the number of these he has released through Auxiliary, I wonder if Silent Season got all “whoa, James, we can't support that many releases from you! We barely put out a couple albums a year as it is. Maybe start your own label for that stuff?” And so he did.

Dimensional Space is one of two such albums ASC released last year, both collaborations with Inhmost. I don't know anything about this alias, though I feel like I should know the name behind the moniker, Simon Huxtable, even if few of his other projects ring a bell (Kloor, Idforma, TQ One). Aural Imbalance and Deep Space Organisms triggers something in the recesses of my memory membranes, but Lord Discogs says I've never encountered him in my own music collection. In any event, Simon seems to have followed a similar path as James, a one-time d'n'b producer who eventually started an ambient side-project. Because if they don't all end up making house or techno, there's always the ambient side-project.

For an album supposedly set among the stars, Dimensional Space is a surprisingly grounded collection of ambient drone. Or maybe that's the twist? That no matter how far into the cosmos we venture, we'll always find our way home via quantum-dimensional transwarp tube-conduits. Or in the bookshelf of your youngling daughter. God, was the ending of Interstellar ever silly. Much prefer Contact's sappy, sentimental ending, I tell ya'.

What I'm trying to say here, is there are a fair amount of field recordings utilized in these works, such that you seldom feel like you're actually out in the great beyond. For sure their use is subtle, subdued, and often so drenched in dub and reverb that they sound distant and ghostly, like faint tethers holding you to terra firma even as you venture into realms where time has no meaning.

Still, the tones are rich, the mood is grand, and the gentle melodies ebb and flow through layers of timbre and drone. Some pieces are rather mellow compared to others, but all are relatively consistent in their approach. All said, if you're familiar with his Silent Season offerings, Dimensional Space is well tread ambient songcraft from ASC, save a little more sonic room to breathe. Must be that Inhmost touch.

Can't We Pause, Even For A Moment? ...An EMC Update

So now all this.

I guess it goes without saying it's hard to find motivation to write about one's CD collection when one gets addicted to 'doomscrolling'. I can't even claim I'm scrolling news and updates with an overbearing cloud of gloom while doing so. We've never seen a conflict on the scale of Putin's invasion into Ukraine in the social media era, and if nothing else, the constant stream of information is addicting enough. For sure I'm hoping the Ukrainian people can repel him, but even if Putin succeeds in installing his puppet government, he sure as shit isn't gonna' hold it, not with the dogged deternimation we've seen from the Ukrainians fighting for their freedom. And that's not even getting into just how swift and throughough the world's locked out Russia's finance sector, effectively turning that nation into a global pariah. Ukrainians are suffering. Common Russians who just want to live their lives will suffer. All for the delusions of grandeur from an aging dickhead dictator, whom I can only imagine is losing his mind in paranoia (seriously, have you seen the size of those tables he meets his Chiefs Of Staff with? Hilarious!).

I generally try to keep this blog apolitical, letting it be nothing more than a place to wax on about music past and (semi) present. If something I'm covering has a political bent, sure, I'll touch upon it, but by and large, I avoid current affairs seeping into what's written in a given review. When current affairs overwhelm your thoughts about anything though, it's hard to keep on as though nothing's nothing. I get many content creators kinda' have to, since it's their job and all. This is just a hobby for me though, one I sometimes have more time to dedicate to than not. I guess I need the world to be a bit less chaotic for me to write about Another Ambient Album on a consistent basis again.

Anyhow, back to the doomscrolling...