Stylistically, Fumika Fades doesn’t stray too far from the sound he’s been developing in recent years, the grainy, reverb-laden pads and atmospheric textures are all familiar, as are that kind of blurring-around-the-edges that tends to conjure up dream-like states and nostalgia.
A succinct and captivating story
Arriving on the scene during the late 80’s rave explosion, and by the early 90’s somewhat better known for putting on ambient events, prolific producer Brock Van Weys drops Fumika Fades under his bvdub moniker. In many ways, it is a satisfyingly fitting marriage of these two disparate sides of his musical history. The latter influence dominates, but the pastoral beats and rhythms are there, echoing in the background as if you were standing between the ambient room and the main room of a club.
Whilst not all the tracks here are hugely danceable, Fumika Fades is a collection of work just as suited to the big system as it is to home listening. Tracks like “Fade to Fall” are Intricate and delicate yet fast and frantic; albeit with any beats and percussive elements placed in such a way that never become fatiguing for the ears if you were settling in for a headphone session (there are no “loudness wars” going on here). I also feel compelled to stress, particularly since we’re living in the age of the playlist where (for better or worse), tracks are often dragged away from the contexts in which they make most sense—this is without question best served listened to as intended, playing out like several pieces of one “movement” which if skipped or rearranged, would not tell such a succinct and captivating story. I hesitate to use such a clichéd and over-used term, but it really is a “journey” over the course of the 78 minutes if you give it the attention it deserves.
Stylistically, Fumika Fades doesn’t stray too far from the sound he’s been developing in recent years, the grainy, reverb-laden pads and atmospheric textures are all familiar, as are that kind of blurring-around-the-edges that tends to conjure up dream-like states and nostalgia. However unlike last years Anodyne Rains, this is by no means a purely ambient album. Arpeggiated synth lines lift tracks like “Fade to Find,” and as I’ve already alluded to, lively but distant breakbeats and implied rave-rhythms are present on tracks like “Fade to Feel” and “Fade to Fall,” and on the transcendental opener “Fade to Flow,” the distant, barely discernible vocals create the kind of otherworldliness only certain producers are able to achieve. Burial comes to mind, Actress, some of Oneohtrix Point Never’s more atmospheric work perhaps, but these comparisons only serve to highlight the ambition and imagination of these artists attempting to create such new worlds with their sound; Van Wey has undoubtedly created his own sonic world, and it is certainly one most listeners will want to step inside.
Fumika Fades is available on EC Underground. [Bandcamp]
Mastered by bvdub, Lacquers by Loop-O
