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ML: Everyone Looks Like Somebody Else [n5MD]
Laird Sheldahl, Tanner Volz, and Rian Callahan, who make up the Northwest trio ML, began making music under the Industrial and Ethereal personality of Thine Eyes in the early ’90s and released the critically acclaimed albums Christian Sex Loops and My Knobs Taste Funny on Doppler Effect Records. After a lengthy hiatus (or self-imposed anonymity), the trio emerged as ML, taking up residence at MP3.com to release their first two ML efforts Tiki and You Are Not My Dentist. Demonstrating a fresh electronic sound within (but not confined to) the IDM genre, the project injected their music with a welcomed sense of humor and an inventive take on the current electronic music formula. It wasn’t long before Seattle’s Toast and Jam Recordings released the excellent ML album Pajama Party on CDR. Unlike Thine Eyes, which leaned toward the Industrial side of things, ML instead explored the IDM genre further with an uncanny knack for originality. The programming on Pajama Party was really quite remarkable, with subtle, almost hidden harmonies, innovative beat structures, and a range of unique sounds including the clever use of flatulence on the track “Take That, Pants”.
True to form, the N5MD label made the wise decision to pick up ML’s next release Everyone Looks Like Somebody Else and add it to the label’s already remarkable catalog of original electronic artists. This makes the first CD release for the MiniDisc/Vinyl label n5MD and what a fitting first CD this is. Drawing on the influences of acts like Kettel, Spark, Twine, and EU, this album utilizes a huge array of strange sounds and electronic clicks and beeps to build intricate and enjoyable song structures of impeccable originality and skillful diversity. Tracks like “Sidedish”, “Sneakerwave”, “Flanklet”, “Quick Kit”, and “No Tradebacks” use a vast arrangement of spitting bleeps, jagged percussion, expert pattern changes, distant melodies, and seamless layering. Each song is diverse here, leaving ample room for side-door accessibility and brilliant miscellany, without disrupting the album’s flow or theme.
With each listen, the receptor of this unusual and accomplished work is sure to discover new sounds and patterns within each appealing tune, allowing repeat playability to proceed without question. With the walls of Intelligent Dance Music closing in slowly, ML’s Everyone Looks Like Somebody Else has managed to avoid the confines of the genre box and instead branches out on its own accord. With their miraculous mix of creativity, imagination, cleverness, and competent diversity, ML has produced one of the most promising and imaginative new electronic accomplishments of its time.
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Gridlock: Live Traces (Self-Released)
Gridlock has been practicing their brand of electronic music for several years now. With the undoubted attention given to their last two albums, Trace and Further, the duo felt it was time to release a live album to accolade their talents even further and Live Traces managed to do just that. Recorded from various points on their critically acclaimed North American tour in 2001, Mike Cadoo and Mike Wells have graciously pulled together this excellent collection of their live efforts, if only to exemplify their undying devotion to their fans, as well as to give a new life to their exploratory trail of music thus far.
Touching upon each phase of the Gridlock existence, this limited to 250 CD explores the true phenomenon that has gradually captivated Industrial and IDM music fans alike for over seven years. As the band started out, it was obsessed by the likes of Skinny Puppy, Haujobb, and Autechre. As their talents authentically progressed, Cadoo & Wells naturally moved from the Industrial camp of their The Synthetic Form debut material, to the rhythmic noise era of Further, and finally nudged into the Intelligent Dance Music realm with their latest full length album Trace on Unit Records.
Always exploring the darker side of electronic music, with epic synth lines, haunting moments of reflection, and heart-stopping injections of crunchy beats, the San Francisco duo has made a name for themselves through the buzz and eager whispers of underground electronic music fanatics. Live Traces acts as a reflecting point on their careers thus far, offering an insightful, and greatly schematic collage of Gridlock’s work to date. With material ranging from the haunting dispositions of Gridlock’s debut The Synthetic Form, to the rhythmic noise realizations of Futher, the IDM-tinged ambient masterpieces of Trace, and even spilling over into the band’s side-projects Dryft and O2, Live Traces is a profound and exploratory pinnacle of this extremely talented and powerful electronic act.
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Vesna: Mone/Aesde 7″ (n5MD)
The St. Petersburg duo know as Vesna, which means spring in Russian, started in 1998 with Alex Gaponenko and Dimitri Tohernjak. With a couple obscure compilation appearances on Lo Recordings and Cheburec, the good folks at n5MD had the sense to release a Vesna 7″ to introduce the American and European scene to this upcoming and outstanding Russian electronic act. Like fellow Russian sects EU, Novel 23, Ambidextrous, Solar X, and others, the talented duo decided to take the path of their fellow countrymen and compose their sound to incorporate crunchy beats, dark synth undertones, and haunting keyboard tinkering. Think of EU meets the more accessible rhythmic moments of Autechre’s EP7 and you’ve got a good premise for what Vesna’s music sounds like. I thoroughly enjoyed this seven-inch, with it’s crunchy beats, low-down-dirty basslines, and cavernous tones. With two succulent compilations and the Proem album Among Others, this suitable 7″ by Vesna is an excellent addition to the already remarkable n5MD catalog. EU fans take note: Vesna will grace your playlist soon enough. Don’t pass this one up…
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