Life scatters its milestones unevenly—some slip into obscurity, while others remain etched in the mind, vivid despite their distance. These rare memories, intimate and haunting, reawaken with uncanny clarity when immersed in soundscapes like those crafted by Factsimile.
A trove of rhythmic intensity
Life scatters its milestones unevenly—some slip into obscurity, while others remain etched in the mind, vivid despite their distance. These rare memories, intimate and haunting, reawaken with uncanny clarity when immersed in soundscapes like those crafted by Factsimile. The moniker of Sheffield-born Michael Robinson (aka iNFO, Intergalactic Mechanic)—featured in our early 2024 profile—Factsimile leans into early rhythmic IDM and glitchy hip-hop shadows, conjuring a sonic diary of half-remembered feelings. “Stone Heart,” the opener, sets this reflective tone: downtempo nostalgia unfurling alongside swelling synths, stirring fragments long buried.
From there, the album never strays far in mood. “Finish Last” pulses with darker undercurrents, its percussion sharp yet eerily tethered to what came before. Robinson seems to uncover missing pages in glitch-hop’s unwritten history—“We Live We Breathe We Die” steeped in shadowy illbient funk, carries that same unshakable weight.
Not a misstep to be found, the record delivers a trove of rhythmic intensity. “Take No Prisoners” dives into synth-and-bleep terrain, its drums meticulously arranged, drilling deep into emotional terrain. With each track, a new spark ignites—“Cut” shears through densely packed beats, while “Back Up” stands tall as a cerebral titan, abstract and unrelenting in its techno form. Even with nods to IDM’s formative years, this collection breathes with immediacy. The closing run encapsulates its tactile grit and emotional resonance: “Under the Trees” hums with whispered layers and slow-motion electro shapes, and “Anybody There”—barely a ghost—drifts with ambient stillness.
Echoes of Funkstörung (and their solo works as Chris De Luca and Michael Fakesch), Funckarma, Woulg, Prefuse73, and Bad Loop ripple beneath the albums outer shell, as if inviting us to linger in these hazy recollections a little longer. A sublime chronicle of forgotten feelings, Factsimile’s latest is a stunning reminder of moments once lived—and now sonically reimagined.
All tracks written and produced by Michael Robinson
Mastered by Lorenzo Montanà
Artwork by LoMo
Its all in the facts is available on Neo Ouija. [Bandcamp]
