Lackluster is anything but – a downtempo, cool trip through synthetic sound-worlds, and oddly enough, reminiscent of the Arovane’s Tides in it’s use of harpsichord, subterranean bass and overall ‘feel.’ This release is a bit more aggressive, however, displaying a nearly powerful, multi-beat driven, almost in-your-face presence at times. The descriptions ‘nearly’ and ‘almost’ are of up most importance when considering Container, as we are talking about Minimal-Ambient music, after all – not Jet Chamber V!
There are those moments of stark beauty such as track four, appropriately named “Pillow,” where slow vibe runs offset by staccato (though both minimal and mellow) beats and lazy bass lines form a solid composition. In fact, there is a dreamy focus throughout Container yet not quite in the ‘music-for-sleep’ grouping. The wavering sci-fi keyboards, funky bass and hi-hat cymbal work on track 6 is insufficiently rigorous for sleepy-time music, IMO. One of the finest cuts, the outstanding “Clinique 99” boasts a mix of all that precedes it – where steel drums (vibes?), smooth waves of synth, a skipping beat and quirky bass-lines recalls some of Atom Hearts ‘tamer’ works. There was but one tiny caveat. Track 11 had a skipping problem from about 1:45 to 2:30, rendering it unplayable. We tried the CD on all four of our office systems (each of varying price and brand) with the same results and never have had this problem on any CD ever! That said we only have one copy, so chances are this was the odd-lot out as our Music-Sherpa-Distributor had no problems whatsoever with their item.
Frans DeWaard calls this new breed of Electronica Micro-Wave for all of the fine nuances and delicate parts that make up the sum total. This recording fits so nicely within that description as the most ‘intense’ tracks, such as ‘Bothersome (Mother Mix)’ retain that quality of less-is-more.
For those fond of their down-tempo in the company of classy tunes will do no wrong with Container in the stabile. A ‘Class-A’ project from start to finish.
Review by Glenn Hammett.
Container is available on deFocus.
