Milium :: Addis Abeba/Lord Stanley’s Cup (Possblthings)

This first vinyl outing is a brief one, but a precedent has been set. Industrial sound plains are explored, the cold ring of metal on metal or the blurred acoustics abandoned spaces.

Electronic music is in perfect health in Leipzig. A spread of innovative labels support a growing underground scene with artists and DJ’s carving up speakers with cruel electro cuts and taut techno tracks. One musician at the forefront of this movement is Milium. To date this mysterious figure has shied away from the bright lights of solo releases, a remix here and there being his output. Finally, Possblthings Records have managed to coax two tracks from this little known machinist.

The 12” is influenced by opposite ends of the world. For the A-Side we’re off to Ethiopia and its capital “Addis Abeba,” a track made alongside fellow Leipziger Kator. Basslines elbow their way out of speakers, distorted beats claw and scratch as cold and calculated piece takes form. Keys icily poke their way past this rusted percussion creating a sinister undertone in a track that snubs the warm climes of its title. The flip takes you to the hotly contested “Lord Stanley’s Cup,” the coveted trophy of Canada’s ice hockey league. A trudging EBM thug is the product. In a haze of indecipherable words and static, a steel drum is thumped. Chords stutter and stammer in this leaden work of labour and pain.

I had been waiting to hear Milium’s debut release ever since first coming across his remix of Chord Memory YUYAY. This first vinyl outing is a brief one, but a precedent has been set. Industrial sound plains are explored, the cold ring of metal on metal or the blurred acoustics abandoned spaces. The 12” marks a different style for Possblthings also, a more aggressive and menacing one. A quality first installment from an exciting new musician.

Addis Abeba/Lord Stanley’s Cup is available on Possblethings.