First in line to make a charming impression for en:peg
digital is Jase Rex, A.K.A. Another Electronic
Musician, or AEM. While this moniker has a certain
cynicism hinting at the current surplus of pre-fab
laptop jockeys littering the scene with derivative
works, AEM flips the cynical into ironic in his fresh
and original approach to emotional experimental
electronica. With Decompose, he takes a cue from
yesteryear when “concept” albums were all the rage and
weaves a fascinating, continuous 78 minute epic tale
about the differing styles and structures investigated
in his music and arranges them in order from complex,
wicked click-hop moments to brittle, intricate
micro-glitch asides that do indeed decompose
themselves with glittering effects.
Next up is the duo of Nuno Rosa and Ricardo Costa as
Polar, whose Light Years album showcases their taste
for variety in each of its 7 tracks. In the ghostly
opener “Krakatoa,” Polar utilize a gothic atmosphere
with trebly drum machines running over minor spectral
pads bathed in reverb. The next track, “Mercurio,”
drops the dark undertones for a light, sunny approach
with bright melodies kissing the skittering clicks and
rhythmic static. The danceable “Fudge” is perfectly
named for its ability to demand repeat taste-tests
with each listen to its near-improv opening dissolving
into a carefully constructed mid-tempo floor-filler.
Polar decides to pause until they return for another
great release with “Bransky,” a clicked-out brainstorm
of random beats and emotion that defies comparison and
perfectly rounds out Light Years. Read entire review…
The sampled conversations and vocals that appear
throughout the 5 Short Stories on Lines EP by
Headphone Science indicate that Dustin Craig is a
master of his technique. Every one of its 5 stories
will make you move in some form or another, whether it
be the head-nodding “With Rain In Her Eye She Still
Smiled Back,” the quick-stepping “The Skeletal
Structure Game,” or the self-described rhumba “Dancing
In A Desert Sunset.” “A Swordfighter’s Electro”
inarguably sounds like it belongs in an unreleased
Tarantino flick, with brilliant samples that beg to be
heard. The closing “Goodbye My Princess” stops at
nothing to make it on your heavy rotation list with
everything thrown in the mix all blended together to
make a cocktail that, when enjoyed responsibly, will
make you wish there were a few more stories before
last call.
In case you ever wondered what concealed electronica
from Western North Carolina sounded like, the search
is over with the emergence of Jason Holland and his
Pomme de Terre alias. A beautiful ballet of gentle
ambience and gorgeously distorted beats is performed
on Pomme de Terre’s Tilted Acres album. From the
opening, effects-laden “Doccoa” and hollow metallics
of the memorably titled “Breakfast of Infamy” to the
back-to-basics closer title track, Pomme de Terre
fashions 10 short and sweet movements out of
conflicting elements to make a firm balance only a
select few can achieve.
Back with a vengeance from a brief but productive
spell of stillness, Matt Willox schools the
competition in laptop madness as Spark. Billed as a
companion piece to his recent Super Robot Battle
Deluxe album on n5MD, Harmonic Seismology is
everything you would expect from the Western US Laptop
battle champ and more. Pencils ready, class is in
session. The secret explosive space modulator on this
album is the deafening “Plastic People.” Never has
anyone managed to give me a charley horse in my jaw
from gritting my teeth with my headphones on low
volume since my first experience with Merzbow’s sonic
blasts of fury. The organized, intense and emotional
chaos of the frenetic distorted beats, stabs of
feedback, unbelievably possible scratches and the
persistent, wobbly slo-mo bass gyrating in the
background still has me speechless and reaching for
the Extra Strength Tylenol after I regain my
composure. Class dismissed.
Leveling out the first batch of en:peg digital
releases is Mario De Meyer as Phaeon, whose track
“Original Northwest Amateur” first appeared on n5MD’s
MD8 compilation and reappears on his debut album,
Concept Pillow. Phaeon’s music resembles a world
filled with essential beats, clicks and pads all
crawling with digital static and nuanced reverb. Each
one of the 8 tracks, from “Carte Blanche Generation”
to “Portable Eight Ball” highlight these key elements,
resulting in a carefully mixed solution whose
composition can only be observed on a molecular level
to fully appreciate its complexity.
Aside from these initial releases, en:peg digital
already has on its release schedule the out-now
Glitchpop album from Bend, Sinister and future albums
from ML, Decadnids, Spark, Proem and Proem’s
collaboration with Secede, Pro.cede. I’m putting my
order in for a new external hard drive before it’s too
late.
All releases are currently available at www.enpeg.com.
