With so much music to digest on these conjoined compilations, the central theme hovers around layers of custom-cut sounds, derailed electronics, distorted audio warfare and a virtual smorgasbord of unique electro-acoustic fragments.
[Listen | Purchase] Founded in 1996 by then 15-year-old Robbie Martin (aka Flourescent Grey) as a predominately CDR label, Record Label Records‘ (RLR) catalog continues to expand into the far reaches of next-level improvisational oscillation. Cultivating left-of-center releases and unleashing fractured electronics has kept RLR in a field of their own; painting a broad picture of universal sounds that confuses the body, phases the mind and ultimately skews the lines between audio-visual experimentation. With so much music to digest on these conjoined compilations, the central theme hovers around layers of custom-cut sounds, derailed electronics, distorted audio warfare and a virtual smorgasbord of unique electro-acoustic fragments. The artists represented herein are all purveyors in their own respective fields and as a listener, close attention to the subtle nuances will yield some interesting results if you let it all sink in.
Electric Carperts (featuring Cubus, Brian E, Fluorescent Grey, Mike Dunkley, Terminal 11, Scuzi, Not Breathing, Identity Theft, Dr. Strangeloop, Kush Arora, BD1982, William S. Braintree, Kcinsu, Kossak, Exillon and Dimentia) and Drinking The Goats Blood (featuring Wobbly, Ata Ebtekar aka Sote, Dalglish aka O.S.T., Wisp, Nommo Ogo, Upside Down Umbrella, Contagious Orgasm, Column One, Candle Labra, Jacob Jarnigon, Sean Niesen, Tomoroh Hidari, Koyxen, Senryl, 10-20 and Bloodysnowman) are two separate CD compilations released on Record Label Records; a culmination of atypical danceable electronics and surreal experiments respectively. Trying to sum up almost 50-tracks is no ordinary feat, with contributions from artists who have appeared on imprints such as Hymen, Ant-zen, Phthalo, Acroplane, Skam, Tear, Highpoint Lowlife, Sub Rosa, and Important, RLR have amassed a collection that is choke full of intertwined left-field grooves, obscure mechanical noise and dissected ambience from every possible corner of the globe.
Upside Down Umbrella’s “Egg In The Head (excerpt),” taken from Drinking The Goats Blood sums up the gritty, digitized organics spread throughout this compilation; its moody bass tweaks and synthesized noise interacts with the listener on a level that is subtle yet direct. Elsewhere, artists like 10-20 deliver more of an abstract dub propulsion whereas Yoshihide Nakajima’s “Room” creates microscopic, almost invisible sound structures that sizzle and whir inside an audiometric testing room (an apt track title, to say the least). Electric Carpets has a more direct focus on moving parts and pieces that may actually have you tapping your fingers, rather than scratching your head. Fluorescent Grey’s “Rag Doll Physics Professor,” with its subliminally sliced and diced vocal extracts, slithers across a wash of crackling beatwork while artists like Terminal 11, Kush Arora, William S. Braintree and wAgAwAgA offer twisted interpretations of semi-industrialized dub and rhythm machines of Autechrean funk. Dimentia’s “Realm” (digital bonus) stands as a definitive highlight with sub-aquatic tweaking, low bass-thumping synthesis, electrified hip-hop and vocodered slivers that melt within its 5-minute range; this track alone is well worth the price of admission.
Where Drinking The Goats Blood revolves around synthetic abstraction to create an opaque groove, Electric Carpets maneuvers with more of a fluid rotation; both transmitting radiant energy that is wholeheartedly unique and utterly against the grain. With this double compilation already spreading its textured outer shell, Record Label Records will likely inherit more followers of these unconventional musical creations. And rightly so.
Electric Carperts and Drinking The Goats Blood are both out now on Record Label Records. [Listen | Purchase]
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/7784925″ params=”show_comments=true&auto_play=false&color=000000″ width=”100%” height=”81″ ]
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/6070356″ params=”show_comments=true&auto_play=false&color=000000″ width=”100%” height=”81″ ]
