Mixing subdued rhythms, acid-tinged notes, flexible low-end, articulated electro, and synthesizer echoes with a gravitational pull, I’d easily delineate this album to the originators of the electronica path that started it all in the early 90s.
Emotive fuel for the soul
There was a time when IDM and newer forms of melodic electronica felt fresh and alluringly abstract. For me, it was the early 90s, and Warp Records’ Artificial Intelligence series simply blew my mind away. Opening the gatefold vinyl as a young teen in my parents basement that my older brother and I basically converted to a very comfortable listening room (similar to Volume 1‘s cover art); I dived through the liner notes and map the coordinates of the musicians I’d soon follow with a passion; learning more about these fascinating sound sculptors was a thrill.
Waxing nostalgic ::
I remember the Hi-Fi system we had pieced together, mostly thanks to my brothers investment; the beauty of a belt-drive Hayward TT3 turntable, Naim CD player and heavyweight black powder-coated audio amplifier that featured a simple green light indicator on the front panel. The prototype floor-standing speakers my brother assembled under the Nimbus Audio nameplate would make these records and discs expand to a whole other sonic dimension. We would eventually test future speaker iterations with Autechre albums a few years later. I’ll never forget LP5 at full volume as a few tweeters blew when they went below their recommended hertz level. What a time it was for discovery, especially experimental electronic music.
I was also pleasantly surprised to see Richie Hawtin’s UP! moniker pointing to my home town of Windsor, Ontario; again courtesy of The Designers Republic liner notes on Artificial Intelligence Volume 1. I began a serious musical voyage learning and collecting its featured artists both within and outside the AI umbrella. I eventually hosted a weekly broadcast from the local radio station at the University of Windsor (CJAM) titled Audio::Nimbus in the late 90s featuring my favorites from these multifaceted electronic genres. It also helped that I was only a hop, skip, and jump from Detroit—techno’s epicenter, a 25 minute drive with my brother at the wheel. We spent a lot of time (and money) at the now sadly closed Record Time shop in Roseville, Michigan—just outside of Detroit—when it opened in 1996. Oh, the memories of crossing the Windsor-Detroit tunnel with stacks of vinyl and CDs we couldn’t wait to consume.
Traversing parallel connections ::
Michael Robinson’s iNFO alias treads on familiar nostalgic terrain while traversing parallel connections that instantly takes me to those early teen years in my parents basement. My brother and I would blast the most exquisite frequencies and pummeling beats and bass we’d ever heard as the surrounding walls vibrated and baffling noises flowed from the window-wells; allowing our neighbors to scratch their heads in bemusement. What a time it was for electronic music, especially noting that most of it seemed to emerge from the UK. And rightly so.
iNFO (also) comes from Sheffield—where Warp was founded in 1989—and it’s not surprising that his first album feels right at home after almost three decades since the first Artificial Intelligence compilation delivered its audio waves that would ricochet from the wood paneling of my parents basement—which, by the way, hasn’t changed to this day.
All Possibilities and Outcomes features ten sandblasted electronic nuggets maneuvering their way through punchy rhythmic tones, drones, and melodic blips’n bleeps while blissful electro-bubbles burst at the seams. Commenting on each track would simply take away from the album’s overall arch, but it does bring back a lot of good memories and carves a unique path as we progress in these roaring 20s. iNFO provides just enough emotive fuel for the soul while striking all the right chords. Mixing subdued rhythms, acid-tinged notes, flexible low-end, articulated electro, and synthesizer echoes with a gravitational pull, I’d easily delineate this album to the originators of the electronica path that started it all in the early 90s. Favorites include “Altered Thoughts,” “Extensions Of Me,” “Infancy,” “Surge Fowards,” “All Possibilities,” and “To Dust.” Recommended for fans of early Autechre, B12, Bola, Bad Loop, Bauri, Patio, Proem, Esem, Sense et al.
All Possibilities and Outcomes is available on Bandcamp.
