Dance With The Dead - Send The Signal

self-release: 2014

Spare some time for an anecdote?

The setting, a little post-clubbing afterparty, which is always nice being at when you're not quite ready for a night to be over. I didn't know these folks in the slightest, but sometimes the conversations you're having are just too good to let die. Still, it became clear to me that our musical tastes weren't so compatible. Lots of Drake, Bieber and the like being played, plus they could tell I was one of those guys, who knew too damn much about music (guilty as charged). But that's fine, I was having a fun enough time chit-chatting about other things (and watching the World Cup Final), so whatever music was playing wasn't a concern for me. Until it was.

At some point, I suggested music a bit more 'peppy', to which I was put on the spot to recommend something. Friends, that has to be the worst thing for me to be asked! Of all the music I know of, I now have to pare it down to just a singular song that my new one-night clubbing pals might enjoy. For some reason, my mind went to Dance With The Dead. It went over like an iridium weight in the atmosphere of Saturn.

I bring this up because, for a time after, I had a crisis of faith, a flailing sense of doubt over my own taste in music. Yeah, I know not everyone will dig what I dig, just as I won't dig what everyone else will dig, but surely Dance With The Dead was bullet-proof? How can some folks not get hype to those pounding darksynth rhythms, the soaring John Carpenter synth leads, and Tony Kim's righteous shredding?

I realize I may have over-committed to this band in buying their entire catalogue off Bandcamp, but man, perhaps I was wrong about enjoying the duo all along. Might they have always been cheesy, corny, and just not cool? Am I so out of touch? I mean, sure, I was one of the 'geezers' when I went to go see them in concert last year, throwing up devil's horns among a crowd of millennials, but might synthwave already be past its prime, with me clinging to a nostalgia of... *checks calendar* a decade old?

Then I listen to Poison off this Send The Signal mini-album, and all is right in the world again. Oh, Dance With The Dead, I can never stay doubtful of you.

Anyhow, Send The Signal is another of the band's earlier EPs, released after the Near Dark album. As such, we're in their era where the synth leads and rhythms dominate over a given track, Tony's guitar action still mostly relegated to a bit of soloing at a track's peak, if featured much at all. Of the six songs (plus an intro), they touch on all the synthwave bases, so a nice little appetizer of the Dance With The Dead stylee. Just, y'know, don't play it for J Cole fans.

Cypher 7 - Security

Subharmonic: 1995

It started with Psychonavigation, then moved on to include Divination. That only left Cypher 7 as the remaining artist from that Alien Ambient Galaxy compilation I hadn't properly indulged in yet. I wasn't so sure I would though, as from what I could glean, this project had the least amount of Bill Laswell input out of all three, his primary credit being “Navigation & Ground Control” (re: producer). Then again, the chaps behind Cypher 7 – Alex Haas and Jeff Bova – worked with Laswell on some of those Divination sessions, so there was bound to be some connective sonic tissue there. Not to mention appearing on Bill's Subharmonic label.

Then again, said label wasn't really a major focal point for the Laswellian One, more of a means to distribute some of his European releases (re: Fax+ output) on American shores, so how much attention could Cypher 7 really be given? Then again-again, Subharmonic also was where he released his take on ambient dub, so maybe the rest of Cypher 7 would lean that way? Ah, fek'it, let's just buy one of their albums should I find a Discogs seller offloading it on the cheap. Ah, here's one! Guess I'll settle with Security, as it not only has two familiar tracks on it (The Suspicious Shaman and Nothing Lasts), but has a cooler bit of cover art too.

Sure enough, opener Message Important gets into some of that vintage Laswell downtempo dub action, with a groovy rhythm, ominous string pads, a quirky sample of French resistance broadcasts, and jazzy playing with organs and bass guitar provided by, yup, Bill Laswell. Just no mistaking that bass tone. Unlike some of his lengthy jams though (this one lasts upwards of fourteen minutes), Message Important is tight and compelling as it plays through. It feels like you're immersed in some noir flick, silhouettes of smoke flowing through the shadowy cracks of a dimly lit basement.

In fact, much of Security has that vibe. Tokyo A.M is a pure, minimalist ambient piece with sparse field recordings of damp back alleys and subtle, sinewy pads, lurking in the dark of door enclaves. Following that, Benares (Open Secret) gets more operatic with opulent orchestral strings and... light Indian singing and drumming? Not quite so French noir as the other tracks, unless you want to count Moroccan into that equation. Which I will because I like me some consistent themes with my albums, yo'. And nothing says French film like having Jeanne Moreau going on about passion and love in Nothing Lasts.

Final track Falling Backwards is another moody, minimalist, experimental ambient piece. At sixteen minutes in length though, it finds room for a little dub jamming towards its end, the piece even morphing into more of an uplifting tone. Ooh, a positive outcome in a noir setting? What is this, modern Hollywood? Sadly not, as Cypher 7 would move on from the project after this. Another intriguing story of '90s underground ambient dub, cut too short.

loscil - Sea Island

Kranky: 2014

A local lad, this loscil is. Not that I realized it at the time of purchase, simply drawn to another bit of familiar cover art with a title also intimately familiar (technically grew up on a 'sea island'). Many a Pacific Northwest beach front is little more than a rubble-strewn wasteland of old cedar driftwood washed upon the shore. Ancient trees felled by strong winter winds, carried out to the ocean where they cruise along currents and tides, piling upon each other in tiny enclaves and fjords all along the coastline. Not the most inviting areas if you're looking to lounge in the sun for an afternoon, but all those dropped logs are handy in a pinch if you need to drop a log of your own.

Anyhow, Scott Morgan has been an active musician for over two decades now, at times working in bands like Destroyer, but primarily producing music as loscil, and fairly active at it too. Lord Discogs lists some thirty items to his catalogue, including works on Ghostly International and Glacial Movements Records. And while I wouldn't say his output is heavily inspired by the general grey-tone of the region's sights and weather, album titles like First Narrows, Strathcona Variations, Sketches From New Brighton, and, yes, Sea Island, will certainly get some Vancouverites' notice. To say nothing of that cover art for Endless Falls. We know that sight all too well wherever we are sat within a traffic jam.

As you may have guessed from those label name-drops, loscil primarily deals in minimalist, dubby ambient drone, with the occasional subtle techno pulse thrown in. Sometimes the music is tranquil and soothing, other times reflective and melancholy, perhaps at times amorphous and non-committal to any particular mood. Whatever you fancy, I'm sure Scott has made some iteration in the past twenty years.

Sea Island touches upon a few of these themes, a nice little soundtrack should you find yourself wandering about such a locale. The bell tones of opener Ahull brings you into the album with a bit of whimsy, even as some of the backing, throbbing synths create a sense of unease. In fact, we don't get anything quite so 'lighthearted' until Sturgeon Bank towards the album's end. In between, there's sombre pieces (Bleeding Ink, Sea Island Murders, Catalina 1943), contemplative pieces (In Threes, Holding Pattern), and gently beautiful pieces (Iona, Angle Of Loll), all performed within a warm layer of foggy dub drone.

Admittedly, the heavy use of said dub tones does give Sea Island a bit of a samey vibe throughout, so it's nice that En Masse towards the end focuses more on piano over the drone. Not that each track doesn't feature a unique sound, it's just everything tends to blend together over the course of a playthrough. That's just the loscil style though, and if you're down for that, you'll be down for Sea Island. Now if you'll excuse me, it's time for my three-hour walk in overcast skies.

Lucette Bourdin - Rising Fog

Dark Duck Records/Fantasy Enhancing: 2007/2021

I keep wondering which album of Lucette's was her proper breakout – or at least, as much of a breakout as an ambient artist could hope to have in such an overstuffed scene. By my best guess, it's this one right here, for a few reasons. One, it was her first released on any sort of label, in this case Dark Duck Records. Nothing like a little extra promotion in getting one's name out there. Second, when Stephen Philips started remixing her albums after Lucette's passing, this was the first one he did. Maybe that's more just a coincidence of catalogue sequence though. Same I guess could be said for the first Retrospective that appeared back in 2014, that collection of Lucette pieces opening with Rising Fog's opener, Crack Of Dawn.

Not sure why that one was selected over the titular track from this album though, Rising Fog a clear highlight in Ms. Bourdin's early discography. Is it because of the length? Sixteen-plus minutes is a long one, though not that long compared to some of the behemoth pieces Lucette was crafting in previous, self-released albums. And if space is an issue for your CD, you could just edit it down a little, like some other tracks were for Retrospective.

Why would you want to though? Rising Fog is just about as perfect an example of the meditative, soothing nature of ambient music, simple drones that endlessly glide along, all the while you wait for a return to a moving harmonic portion that seemingly lifts your very soul, like the unveiling of a valley from a dark, damp, low-hanging cloud. Ambient music where you don't even notice the passing of time as it plays, and would be quite content in hearing it carry on for an hour. Yeah, some of her previous works could tap into that wellspring just as effectively, but if the piece Rising Fog was most folks' (re: ambient connoisseurs) introduction to her, it's small wonder her profile grew after.

There's other tracks on this album though, seven in total. The aforementioned Crack Of Dawn reminds me of that Ave Marie animation sequence at the end of Disney's Fantasia, like I'm wandering through a forest with overhanging trees shaped like a cathedral. Autumn Light too, and maybe a bit of Russian Snow as well, though even more angelic with its gentle pads, tickling your ears with their satin tones. Elsewhere, A Sunny Afternoon is surprisingly deep and dubby in its synth drone, when you'd think a title like that would offer something brighter.

The final two get into ambient music with a bit of a rhythmic pulse to them, so maybe not true blue ambient? Berlin-School, I guess, without the sonic weirdness that genres sometimes indulges in, though we're threading needles again here. Either way, they're nice cappers on Rising Fog, an album that, yes, I'd say is worth a 'break-out' status, if such an album can be designated as such for Lucette.

Speedy J - Rise

Plus 8 Records: 1991/2021

“The Rise Of Speedy J”? “Speedy J Rises”? “Speedy J ...Arise!”? Hmm? Oh, don't mind me, just mulling over some silly thoughts. Like, you know how “rise” is a total cliche in movie marketing, right? So naturally I can't help but think of this EP in those terms. “Jochem Paap is... The Speedy J, Risen!”, and such nonsense. Look, when one has exhausted nearly all the Very Important talking points regarding an artist's catalogue, the temptation to succumb to the cockamamie grows ever more prominent. It happens to the best of us, and I'm far from the best of us. Maybe the best of us of what's left of us.

Anyhow, after Jochem had made his mark on the Detroit techno scene with International, he followed it up with this EP, four tracks that, for better or worse, showed just how diverse his early career would go. The titular cut kicks things off right where International left off, a near ten-minute rinse out of Detroit future funk with bright synth stabs and soaring strings. As per the title, all the elements in play keeps building upon itself, such that Rise has all the momentum going for it by track's climax, needing a good two minutes worth of cool down. Still, a strong opener, letting folks know the Dutchman is keeping the 'proper techno' spirit alive and well in Europe.

Then second track Something For Your Mind hits. Okay, it's not as inane as Pull Over, but this is still a fairly dumb track, just barely on this side of the 'Good Dumb – Bad Dumb' divide. I guess because this is a live recording (lacking any crowd noise), there's a bit more free-wheelin' flow with the thumping percussion and playful effects on the vocal. I don't have much else to say about Something For Your Mind at this point because, hoo, I'll have a better opportunity down the line.

Tresor's an odd one, in that on its surface, it's a more straight-forward bumpin' techno tune. For some reason though, I can't help but think I'm playing an old arcade racing game while it plays. Or maybe a subway station level in a beat-'em-up. Some of the synths used sound so... arcadey, y'see. There isn't anything as immediately ear-wormy as the first two tracks either, so maybe that's why Tresor has a feeling of a background tune, or a transitional one in a late set towards the end of a night.

And speaking of 'end of night', here's De-Orbit, the track that put Speedy J in the headlights of those 'intelligent' followers of techno. In the context of Rise, it's a wonderful little chill tune, Jochem showing off his downtempo side for the first time (no, I don't subscribe to the theory the speed was a mispress). Really, this whole EP plays out like a condensed night out: the 'get pumped' start, the big anthem, the 'deep' cut, and the afterhours tune. “The Rise And, um, Come-Down, Of Speedy J.”

Sven Väth - Retrospective 1990-97

Club Culture: 2000

Kinda' wild to think there aren't many Sven Väth compilations. Plenty of Harthouse or Eye-Q collections, sure, where he's had his hand in the production chair one way or another. An actual LP dedicated to just his works though? This simple little nine-tracker released in the year 2000 is about it. Okay, also a Mixmag set he did for his 30th anniversary as an artist. This CD doesn't go that far back though, only focusing on his Harthouse era. I assume because Club Culture – and by extension, WEA – only had licensing rights to these tracks, thus it was all they could include. And with Sven's Cocoon print and nightclub gaining plenty of plaudits at the turn of the century, time was about right for those licence holders to cash in.

Nine tracks may not seem like a lot of music covering a seven year span, but considering a few of these cuts breach the double-digit length, I'd say that's reasonable bang for your buck. Not so much, though, if you were already a hardcore Harthouse follower, very little on Retrospective even the most casual consumer of that label's output wouldn't already have. Heck, I already have two-thirds of these tracks in some form, but there are a few remixes that I haven't plucked up yet, plus a few others missing from my own library, so springing a few bones for this compilation was an easy buy for yours truly.

Sven Väth's retrospective collection opens up with the early trance hit of Zyon's No Fate ...which isn't actually a Sven Väth joint. Oh, he and right-hand man Ralf Hildenbeutel are definitely on the Struggle Continuous Mix (the version with d'at piano!), which is what's included here. And this is a perfectly suitable track to open Sven's CD on. Just, y'know, hilarious how Sven technically isn't much involved with it, but rather those other two Eye-Q all-stars: A.C. Boutsen and Stevie B-Zet. Speaking of, Vernon's Wonderland is also on here, but again as remix (called The Future) handled by Sven and Ralf.

Anyhow, of the tunes I already have, Spectrum is here, as is An Accident In Paradise. Heck, I even have that ultra-long Underworld rub of Harlequin – The Beauty And The Beast, which I assume would have been a selling point for this CD for most others. Nice to finally have an original version of the classic, chipper My Name Is Barbarella, though this moody, minimalist Michael Mayer version of L'Esperanza isn't much to get fussed about – darn edits.

That leaves just two tracks I've never talked about. The first is Sven's own Ballet Fusion but it's also an edit, so nuts to that. Electro Acupuncture then, with B-Zet under the guise of Astral Pilot. It's a twelve-minute outing of bouncy techno that's a lot of fun and would probably get huffed out of Very Important techno circles but is so Very Sven Väth – especially of this period – so who gives a hoot?

James Murray & Francis M. Gri - Remote Redux

Ultimae Records: 2019

Yay, James Murray is back! Or, was back, this album having come out a few years ago now. And then, that's only in relation to Ultimae, Mr. Murray remaining a busy-body between his few appearances on the French label. He's got his own label, Slowcraft Records, to release things on, and a second home with Home Normal, a print housing names like Celer, bvdub, Chihei Hatakeyama, and Wil Bolton. It does give an impression that James didn't need to return to Ultimae, but considering his Eyes To The Height was a highlight of the label's past decade, it's nice seeing him return.

Only, I'm not sure how much of Mr. Murray's music is to be found on this particular release, Remote Redux coming off more like a Francis M. Gri joint. Mr. Gri is another in an endless amount of abstract acoustic ambient producers, often employing pianos and guitars while treating them to delay, detuning, and dubbing effects. He, too, has his own label, KrysaliSound, where he self-releases things while housing other names like øjeRum, Tropic Of Coldness, Hirotaka Shirotsubaki, and Wil Bolton. Oh, and James Murray's released an album there, which is how I assume the two crossed paths. Or maybe it was when Gri released an album on Murray's Slowcraft Records. Either or, whichever satisfies your head-canon.

Ma opens things up with a gentle build of discordant strings, subtle pads, and piano touches with delayed tones reaching far into the deepest canyons. The mood gradually escalates as the layers of timbre pile upon each other, before long the piece doing that wall-of-sound thing you might hear on the more drone orientated ambient labels out there. Though with the twitchy strings and minimalist piano, Ma feels more comfortable in a modern classical lane than traditional ambient.

Toma carries forward with similar production, though with acoustic guitar rather than piano the main melodic rudder. For as much melody as there is anyway, this piece more about the harmonic drones washing over your sense of being. Remote uses more reverse delay effects upon strings and pads, all the while maintaining some sense of forward momentum as the tones ebb and flow. These are techniques I've heard Francis use, but not so much James. In fact, aside from some pad support and electronic sprinklings, I haven't heard much out of James, leaving me wondering if he's in more of a support role to Francis. Like, James playing Eno to Francis' Budd.

Speaking of, Lotano is an utterly blissed out piece of dubbed-out modern classical (d'at analogue fuzz!), while Redux brings back the wall-of-sound washes. That's also the end of the album (plus an extended version of Toma), and with only one track out of five breaching ten minutes, relatively short all things considered. It's also unlike any Ultimae record I can recall hearing, the label seldom going this ambient, much less modern classical. Remote Redux would make perfect sense on, say, Dronarivm, but on Ultimae, it's definitely an unique item.

Sykonee's 'Sportsing' Surveys: DELERIUM / CONJURE ONE

Ah, Delerium. Some love 'em. Some hate 'em. Some loved 'em before they hated 'em. Some didn't know they existed for a decade before coming to love 'em. A great many more are probably indifferent but know at least one or two of their songs - typically in a remixed fashion. Wherever you stand on their worth, it's undeniable the group - primarily helmed by Bill Leeb, with Rhys Fulber as his frequent fellow muse, and a whole gaggle of lady vocalists in later years, have done much in the worlds of musical scenes most would deem incompatible. Are they really so?

Yes, if you were to take their very earliest industrial and dark ambient records against their most recent ethereal dance-pop outings, you'd wonder how that link ever formed. Or at least I wondered. And with wonder comes an interest in exploring an entire discography. Buckle-up, me buckos, this one's a three decades spanning dive!





























That sure was a dive that felt longer than I anticipated - probably didn't help I took on an additional discography in the process. That'd be like if I'd done all the solo albums of the original Genesis band members along with that band's primary output! Felt like I'd have done Rhys dirty if I didn't include his stuff with Leeb's though: the two remain so synced with each other after all these years, and the two projects were relatively similar overall. Ooh, does this mean I'll be tackling all the other Leeb/Rhys projects out there? Front Line Assembly does have quite the extensive discography too, not to mention other, smaller outings like Synesthasia.

Hhmm, no, I need to listen to something a bit different for a while. How does New Order sound to y'all?

Blue Hour - Reference 97

Blue Hour: 2014

Hearing honest-to-Gods, true blue trance music from that positivesource compilation naturally had me wondering, was there any more from these guys? The label may be far too new to have cultivated much of a regular roster, but surely all these artists didn't just suddenly sprout up from the ground like so many Tolkien dwarves. You bet, but that's a lot of digging through discographies, some of which may only have a few scant releases to their name. No, best to stick to labels for now, and fortunately for I, it turned out positivesource is a sub-label. Which means there's a parent label I can check out! Oh, goodie!

Sure enough, said parent label is Blue Hour. You might remember that name as one of the artists I mentioned in the positivesource 'Bundle' review (it was only a month ago). I touched on it there, but here's more details. Started by Luke Standing way back in 2013 (yes, that's 'way back' now, deal with it), the eponymous print carved out a tidy little niche in an overcrowded techno market in Germany. Maybe not the most flashy label thereabouts, but successful enough to carry on releasing a few records every year to this day. I don't have the time to sift through the label's entire catalogue to hear just how consistent the trance vibes that lured me in had been lurking throughout, but I figure scoping out some early works might give me an idea. Ah, this Reference 97 looks promising, perhaps referencing techno and trance from the year 1997?

Or maybe not. The titular opener of this single hits you immediately with the thudding, thunderous techno beats you'd associate with Ostgut Ton releases – maybe the snare action is a little vintage Detroit? But what's this? An emergent synth pad, pulsing to the rhythm as it slides along its sine wave? Yeah, that's kinda' trance, even has a little breakdown where it's just the melody doing its thing. Those big ol' beats waste no time coming back though (fuck d'em builds, yo'), keeping Reference 97 firmly in techno's domain.

Second track is called Don't Speak. Ooh, is that a reference to the No Doubt song? Right, the album it came from was released in '95, and technically had a single released in '96, but it did most of its chart damage in '97, so there could be a tie-in! Ha-hah, oh of course not, this Don't Speak a strict exercise in techno minimalism (but not mnml, thank Lord). There is a weird sound that oozes out after every eighth measure, which might be an ultra-dubbed vocal sample, which could be a clip from the No Doubt song? No, I doubt that.

Final track Moments also brings the boom in its beats, but in a broken way, boy. There's also some synth pad work in support, giving this track a real classic Artificial Intelligence vibe. Could almost appear on B12's label, if that bass kick wasn't so beefy.

Solar Fields - Red

Droneform Records/Sidereal: 2014/2018

Hah, bet you forgot I have a Solar Fields box-set to get through as well, didn't you! Right, it's not that big a box-set, containing just three CDs in all. And it's not like you can't get these coloured-titled compilations separately either, at least in their digital forms. Red / Green / Blue is only a box-set in the sense that it's a tidy consolidation of wayward collections of music, particularly for those who like having a physical medium on their shelves.

Of the three discs, Red is the most redundant to my own music collection, already having half these tracks elsewhere. In fact, three of them appeared on Fahrenheit Projects, but as Magnus was a regular contributor to that Ultimae series, it's only natural a significant chunk of track list space is taken by them. For the record: Union Light comes from Fahrenheit Project Part Four, OnFlow comes from Fahrenheit Project Part Seven, and Electric Fluid comes from Fahrenheit Project Part Two ...or does it? Wait a minute, something seems to be missing from this Red version, the bit of acid towards that track's end. Is this an early mix? *checks through Discogs* Ah, so it is, this version first appearing on a 3D Vision Relax compilation called Module 01. Huh, guess that makes the Ultimae cut, the superior cut, an exclusive to F.P.2.

Some other Ultimae exclusives include the ultra-subdued Combinations (On/Off Edit) from Oxycanta 2 (which I have), the Solar Fields At His Solar Fieldsiest Fiat Lux from Albedo (which I have), and Times Are Good (Sometimes Remix) from Imaginary Friends. I don't have that one. I don't know why I don't have that one. I guess the by-line of “audio poetry” had me thinking it some spoken word outing? Times Are Good is definitely not that, a pleasant slice of charmingly twee downtempo chill. Not the most mesmerizing Solar Fields tune out there – especially on a compilation containing Fiat Lux and OnFlow - but definitely a hint of things to come with Until We Meet The Sky.

Now the rest. Jeezlh comes from an Interchill Records compilation called Future Memories, a fairly standard bit of Solar Fields psy-chill with another winner of a melody at its peak. I'm more fascinated by Solar Fields appearing on Interchill at all though, especially rubbing shoulders with Eat Static and Phutureprimitive (Carbon Based Lifeforms and Cell also joined in). A different remix of Confusion Illusion appeared on a Suntrip Records compilation, adding operatic singing to his blissed-out chill atmosphere, while Compressed Universe goes a little more prog-psy with its uplifting vibes, which makes sense as it first appeared on a Spiral Trax CD. As for Velvet Reptile from the hopelessly obscure Stargate Recordings, it's fine as a tranquil transitional ambient piece within Red, and that's about all.

Still, a top grade compilation, Red is, with some of Solar Fields' best tracks on it. If you had to choose just one, I'd go with this (spoiler for Blue, I guess?).