An auspicious beginning to a series with significant inertial force.
In the interest of cosmic (kosmische?) balance, Zoharum, the label known among other things for its meticulously curated reissues, flagshipped by a stupendous chronological enhancement of Rapoon’s oeuvre (currently up to its third double volume) has initiated a new series showcasing young, barely-recorded artists “working in the field of broadly-defined electronic music.” The title Circuit Intégré is a doff of the cap to the Prospective 21e Siècle series released by Philips in the late sixties and early seventies. The delightfully complex, flowchart artwork unfolding over all six panels is a joy to behold. Promising to present three projects each time, volume one actually features four: Dat Rayon, separate contributions by two members of musical collective NZLD.pl (short for “Niebezpieczne Związki” [Dangerous Liaisons], a musical collective or self-styled “state of mind”), and Gaap Kvlt. All are based in Poland.
Five Polish-titled tracks by the industrial-inspired Dat Rayon (not exactly as in musically, he’s from the heavy-lifting town of Gdańsk and is also hung up on decrepit Detroit) roll out on a conveyor belt with Fordian efficiency, an oblique take on ambient texture and dub techno. Dat Rayon’s beats have a delectable crunchiness and its melodic restraint only tempts the listener in closer, perhaps too close to the machinery. Compares very favorably with the heavy, hyperminimalistic beats and tragic atmospherics of the denizen of another seat of industry fallen on hard times, Birmingham´s Mick Harris (cf. e.g. Hednod Sessions and his work as Quoit and The Weakener).
Two propulsive pieces by FOQL follow, the wood-quivering, cello-deep “Not Lost Till It’s Gone” and “Poseur Face,” where the drums go into anaphylactic shock as a catchy, faux-Radiophonics melody is gleefully picked out. RNA2, the second member of NZLD.pl appearing here, offers three pieces, nasty, filthy beats accompanying samples from instruction tapes on firearm maintenance and electromagnetic conductors, and, on “Lonely Man with a Sick Mind,” a symphony of tinkling, chiming metal and brutal, steel beams caught up together in the whirlwind.
Gaap Kvlt, purveyor of “post industrial haunted bass,” who debuted on Monotype Records with Void, creates ambient atmospheres that eschew narrativity in favor of the moodiest of mood. “Visitant” and “Huun” crackle with subtle, electric portent; “Nebula” is space music from Mars, if Mars had been colonized by the Byzantines; “Rise” is just plain scary.
An auspicious beginning to a series with significant inertial force.
Circuit Intégré is available on Zoharum.
