On All is Silence, Ametsub cleverly mixes research and development in what he calls New Field music—post-glitch, post-dub, post-ambient, past caring about genre and style, which at the same time provides a kind of exploded view of all their histories.
No, it isn’t, not at all. It is a clarion of electronica, brazen with ideas. And they’re all interesting ones. Tokyo-based Ametsub’s previous album, The Nothings of the North garnered widespread acclaim. His new album is a fourteen-hour technicolour dream packed into a concise forty-eight minutes that should win him even more.
On All is Silence, Ametsub cleverly mixes research and development in what he calls New Field music—post-glitch, post-dub, post-ambient, past caring about genre and style, which at the same time provides a kind of exploded view of all their histories. Fragmented mosaics like the piano-driven (and beaten) “Dimmur” and narcotic two-minute vacation “Sun of Madrid” seamlessly dovetal with fully-formed, finely embroidered flights of fancy, like “Rufouslow,” based on a melody by Brain Grainger (Milieu, Coppice Halifax) and the transportive, crispy “Vestige for Wind Day.” It flows forward, then backward, spins on its head and even deconstructs funk, rhythm and blues, and jazz (“Precipice Drive,” “Lucent” and “Muffled Blue,” respectively).
If you had to slot Ametsub in somewhere, he would glide effortlessly into the discography of Sending Orbs, alongside artists like Secede, Kettel and Yagya— colorful, enthusiastic electronica. Though he would still stick out as something very special. All is Silence has size, dimension, intention and importance.
All Is Silence is available on Nothings66. [Release page]
