With their latest two releases Seattle’s Medical Records is making a new. As the label grows Troy Wadsworth is continuing his examination of the past but the boss has decided to seek out the contemporary as well.
Illustration Sonore are a Paris duo, one half being Dolina and Ame De Boue. This twosome are not an obscure synth group from 1982 but a modern, yes modern, analogue outfit; a first for Medical. With appearances on the like of La Forme Lente, I/S deliver Undisciplined Strips Of Emotions for the Pacific Northwest imprint. Sadness lands with “Ulyssess.” The track is a bleak, yet racing, piece of hardware drenched pop. There is a wilting sorrow buried in the album, “Divinatorium” being measured and moody while “Illustration #1” strips vocals for a piece of downtrodden hope. Melodies are pared back, tempos rising and falling amongst whispered lyrics. Echoes of EBM are present, and of course Synth Wave, but there is a shoegaze discontent to their sound. “Our Bodies” cracks under emotional strain whereas “Die Gefuhlsduselei” is an emboldened piece of slow brooding. “Cannibals” lefts the lid, scorn and torture pouring forth before the finale. “Blacklights” has a coarse musicality. Distortion is piled high, human speech corrupted by strung out synth and bruised bars, but the track is strangely uplifting with its soaring notes and fevered energy.
Back to the past. Paul Nelson hails from Portland, self-releasing Vortex in 1981. Thirty plus years on it’s time for a revival. Immediate comparisons that come of mind are Bernard Fevre or Johan Timman. The chirpy cleverness of “Automated Man” opens. Vocoders are heavy in this clean and Electro centric piece of burgeoning synth disco. Ambience arrives with “Vortex 1” before “Vortex 2,” a mesmerizing piece of Electronics. In the same vein as Automan’s “The First, The Last, The Genus” Nelson takes the listener on a journey across his musical dreamscape. Prog-rock meets analogue abstraction for a very special outing. The flip is a roaming spaceflight, Nelson taking the helm and structuring for the warm embrace of “Vortex 3.” From time to time Nelson breaks off into elated Cosmic Disco, “Vortex 4” beaming with the energy and heart of early Morodor. Nelson is an analogue craftsman. The US artist builds vivid and engaging scenarios, some heady and deep whilst other are more playful. Seriously hard to believe this album is as old as it is.
I/S and Paul Nelson come from different musical places. The Frenchmen pour anguish and angst amidst analogue emotion. Nelson looks to the future with bright wide eyes, synthlines filled with hope. Modern gloom versus an optimism of a new age. Excellent additions to the Medical family.
Both releases are available on Medical.
