V/A :: Nine (Nonine)

Mixing sonic voids of metallic noise with leftfield samples, the obscure silence buried deep in the core of this compilation is somewhat unsettling and at the same time rather enjoyable.

V/A 'Nine'

[Free digital release] Nine, number nine, number nine. One can’t stray from numerology when it comes to this German imprint celebrating nine years of musical experimentation and art. A reformation of electro-acoustic tentacles is now available on their latest Nine compilation, featuring music that expands consciousness and revealing a whirlwind of kinetic magnetism. What Me Raabenstein (label operator) has produced is all of the above and much more…

Dressed to the nines and offering nine tracks (conveniently enough), this free digital download is nothing short of decadent, upfront and classical in construction; it’s a layer magma that flows, scrapes and chars all that surrounds it. Time shifts gradually and with a certain unpredictable behavior, steering from one direction to the next as the landscape changes elevation. Mixing sonic voids of metallic noise with leftfield samples, the obscure silence buried deep in the core of this compilation is somewhat unsettling and at the same time rather enjoyable. The silence comes from ambient distortions that are stretched to max capacity (ref. Slowcream, Pepper & Bones), often reminiscent of extracts from Amon Tobin’s lost sound factory; Slowcream offers an emotional behemoth of ambience with “In The Cave.” Elsewhere we’re presented with interludes that expel the finest classical granules, developmental-jazz, digitized percussion and piano bursts (ref. Langer & Raabenstein, David Minor, Lagerfeltz). Nine is an engaging trip that melts its unclassifiable frequencies into a massive outflow of peculiar mind fields. A poetic angle of sound sculptors rearrange time for their audience to make sense of, and all the while, Nine signals the imprint’s finest in terms of sound and vision. The dense conglomeration of clicks and cuts are more than mere morsels of software and hardware effects, instead, artists like Me & Mrs Bee gravitate towards funkier dynamics and chilled rhythms while Kaisen manipulates reversed tones and piano fragments with an aged exterior. The! She.’s opening contribution sprinkles lounge electrics and softened pitter-patter beats directed towards Nonine’s abstract point-of-view yet somehow remains unique in its delivery.

Nonine presents a three-fold summary of its dedicated mission; blurring the frayed edges of experimentation, creating a visually subtle appeal and ultimately expanding the confines of limitless direction. Displaying history in only forty-four minutes is not an easy feat, in the case of Nine, it’s the exception. This is Nonine after all, you’re safe.

Nine is out now and available as a free digital release on Nonine.

[audio:http://igloomag.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Slowcream_In-The-Cave.mp3|titles=Slowcream “In The Cave”] [audio:http://igloomag.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/David-Minor_Oilbo.mp3|titles=David Minor “Oilbo”]