(April 2010) Anna Logue Records regularly looks into the lost annuls of music for its output, but it does look to modern day artists too. The Silicon Scientist is a contemporary of the Anna Logue roster. In 2007 The Silicon Scientist, aka Stefan Bornhorst, released his debut album Windows on the World. Bornhorst is back with his second full length, Poly / Bookmarks II.
This LP and CD release is a veritable hoarde of Bornhorst’s electronic sound. His tones are warm and heavily analogue. In some respects his sound is reminiscent of some of Bochum Welt’s material but with has a more of a synthesizer edge. The tracks melt from lush analogue instrumentals like “Silicon Beach” to more uptempo dancefloor friendly pieces laced with vocoders. “Snowflakes” has a cold disco facade, with despondent lyrics and warm analogue tones bringing some of Aube’s outings to mind. “Colourblind” continues down this despondent line, slowly trudging in synth footprints towards a lonely windswept location. “Lost City” introduces a poignant note before warmth washes over with “A Blue Glow” and “Meltdown.” The LP comes to a close with “Silicon Beach (Moon Version)” melting under Bornhorst’s Polymoog.
If Poly wasn’t enough, Bookmarks II offers up ten more tracks. From the gorgeously textured “Seven” and “When the World Slows Down” enters the epic “Lost City (Extended Mix).” Their are some really nice nuggets on the bonus CD, such as “Submarines (First Version)” which is a starker work compared to “Windows on the World” piece. “Silberwinter (Early Mix)” follows suit, paring back some of the complexities of the final track and leaving behind a hazy fog of vintage synthesizer sound. Bornhorst moves into instrumental mode for the soundtrack journeys of “Inselwinter I” and “Inselwinter II.” The Poly/Bookmarks II voyage comes to an end with the synthesizer cruise “Planspotting.”
The Silicon Scientist sound is founded in vintage analogue machinery. Poly/Bookmarks II is neither dark or broody, it is pure and joyously uplifting. It lies within a strange sub-genre, one lying on the borders of synth pop and electronica. Rather than trying to pigeonhole Poly/Bookmarks II it might be easier to say that this is one of the most elevating synthesizer albums of recent times. There are moments where it seems like Bornhorst might be timorously flirting with the trappings of melancholy, but his ever warm analogue synths say otherwise. The unemotional vocoder vocals that dissect the album are evenly bolstered and enlivened by glowing synthesizers and drum machine embers.
Poly/Bookmarks II is out now on Anna Logue.
