(09.11.05) Toytronic’s latest release is an odd choice: a new E.P. of previously unreleased archive material from Gimmik. Given that the label has just begun its Re-issue Campaign with the classic Load
Error EP by Gimmik (featuring numerous extra, previously unreleased tracks) and will no doubt follow this up in 2006 and with the re-issue of Rhythmus der Stadt, it seems strange to release this six tracker as an individual entity rather than pack the tracks onto the other re-issues. Furthermore, whilst News From The Past is typical Gimmik material it fails to make a huge impression in its own right, especially following the re-issue of Load Error.
That aside, News From The Past will still please Gimmik and Toytronic aficionados and followers of old school IDM and electronica. There’s not much left that hasn’t already been said about the Toytronic and Gimmik sound, but the varying age of the tracks included on the E.P. does provide an interesting potted history of Gimmik’s
musical progression over the years. The tracks “Floating Clear” and “Typologic” are exactly the kind of effervescent, glitch-ridden bleep-tronica that you would expect from early to mid era Toytronic and Gimmik releases. The former would sound completely at home on the Back To Basics album, whilst the latter could almost be mistaken for an Abfahrt Hinwil piece.
The inclusion of the second track, “Share Some Grammar,” is a definite misstep for this EP, however, made overly conspicuous both because is it a noticeably live recording, complete with crowd noise and all of the resulting differences in audio quality and production values, and
that it actually sounds like the work of another artist completely. Some almost new age, Orb-like, pitch bent chimes clatter messily over acid-squelch and crunchy percussion for about six minutes. Its inclusion here is jarring, it has dated far less graciously than the rest of the material and consequently tarnishes the spotless, crisp impression the rest of the material radiates.
“Diving-Pool (Num Num Rmx),” on the other hand is both a new track and something of a nostalgia-fest. Remixed by label contributor, Num Num, the track utilises sound sources that appeared on the original Toytronic website. Remember those little samples that used to play as your mouse cursor hovered over the menu items on the Flash website? Well they’re here, mixed into an iconic Toytronic-styled theme tune.
No Gimmik release is complete without a beatless ambient piece somewhere along the way, and here Gimmik chooses to close out News From The Past with “Scope,” a three minute, plain clothes, pad-driven melody that would have worked better as an interlude rather than a conclusion, as it peters out in unmemorable fashion.
Of the two EP’s released by Toytronic recently, the kudos has to go to Infinite Scale for the far more varied, energetic and consequently enjoyable Sound Sensor. That said, this is a collectors piece for Gimmik fans and there are a handful of tracks on News From The Past that make the purchase worthwhile.
News From The Past is available on Toytronic.
