A soulful audio tonic is required to escape the rains of the Pacific North West. Seattle based Further Records have been producing such remedies from their very beginning. For the latest output the soaked city offers up Celestial Acid by Yard and Mechanical Rain by Ian Martin.
The title of Yard‘s latest might hint towards of an otherworldly trip into the realms of 303 tweaks. In fact Yard offers up a selection of deep techno instilled tracks. A solid beat is at the backbone of this subterranean album. From the opening “Warm Up” and into “Detrit Revisted” purport a familiar techno beat, but whirl with inchoate cascades. These are soulful pieces that plumb the depths, elements of electronica entering throughout. Dub techno mixes with microchips to produce lush soundscapes like “Vocadef” and “Twisted Space.” Yard removes the physical deluge and sinks the listener into a warm sonorous bath, one with ambient undertones and a steady beat. The washed out atmospherics of “Whatif” closes Celestial Acid, a lumbering piece of ambience to combat, or embolden, the darkening nights.
The Netherlands’ Ian Martin is a prolific talent. His mixes on Intergalactic FM’s SEER radio break the preconceptions of what a DJ is, and his musical musings are haunting. Mechanical Rain is a submersion in sonic stillness. “Morning Activity” is a beatless piece of ambient warmth, Martin ebbs between the light and dark of dawn. The ambience takes on an interplanetary tone with the drone and echoing beeps of “Drups.” Martin is a master of creating vivid soundscapes, turning moods into almost motionless music. “Stream” layers broad bars of sound over one another. The track is absolutely immersed, steel rods shimmering in pillars of concrete. Martin returns to his space station for the plinks and feedback of “Wires” before the title piece lands. The title track is arguably the most melodic of the record, tubular chords mingling in a sea of clicks and clacks.
With the frosty fingers of Winter setting in some warmth is needed. Yard explores a different side of the fathoms to Ian Martin. Where Yard has draped his ideas across a techno model, Ian Martin has painted his own world in modular synths. As the wind howls and the rain hammers, get the headphones on and enter into these two fascinating sounds.
Both releases are available on Further.
