Picking up where his 2003 release, Simulations 1.0, left off,
Simulations 2.0 continues Sawyer’s evolution from a cold and ghostly
dark ambient player to a cinematic isolationist with a machine-driven
heartbeat that thrums steadily beneath his capacious soundtracks.
Split equally between new material and remixes (seven of them supplied
by similarly-thinking artists like Enduser, Mimetic, Ab Ovo, Hecq,
Displacer and S:cage), Simulations 2.0 is more than a simple variation
of L’ombre’s oeuvre: it’s a whole new iteration of Sawyer’s cinematic
polish, lit by neon reflections and polished chrome and cut by an
subterranean undercurrent of dark beats.
“Jackhammer Blues” and “Subway Tunnel Advertising” bristle with dark
beats, dark marching rhythms that lurch with an urban insouciance.
“City Speak” echoes with the hollow reverberation of drums rumbling
through a tactile fog of noisome static. Sawyer isn’t building
metropolitan pastoral symphonies any more; his soundtracks have a
gritty, urban drive to them and sound like they could very easily be
adapted as themes and leitmotifs for a remake of Walter Hill’s The
Warriors. In “Relax It’s Digital” and “No Referent,” Sawyer’s
ambience is filled with the leaking hum of the downtempo jazz club and
the glitch chatter from a thousand difference electronic sources. Even
“Vanishing Point,” which sounds as if it escaped from a Loscil record,
is accompanied by a bass drum and metallic drum kit.
The remixers, for the most part, accentuate the existing thematic
thrust of their individual tracks. Ab Ovo’s remix of “Relax It’s
Digital” is simply more digital than the original — neither faster
nor slower, just filled with more digital processing and crackling
synthesis while Displacer’s remix of “City Speak” focuses on the
drums, bringing them closer in the mix. Enduser’s remix of “Urban
Estate” snares the same luscious drone of “Vanishing Point” and
demolishes it in a broken cataclysm of drum ‘n’ bass and sub-sonic
rumblings. Hecq’s two remixes of “Reality Loop” vanish in either
direction, the “Hysteria Jive” mix shuttling off to an uptown dance
club while the “Echo Implant” mix dissolves into the slow water
running down the streets and vanishing into the storm drains. S:cage
brings the rhythmic noise train hard into the station for “Off
Course,” and Mimetic’s remix of “Interlocution” is a stellar
conglomeration of the L’ombre aesthetic: a self-contained five-minute
soundtrack that moves from the ghostly ambience of L’ombre’s Medicine
For The Meaningless to the dark hop beats that permeate Simulations
2.0 with the added bonus of the orchestral flair that suffuses
Mimetic’s work.
I’m continually impressed with Stephen Sawyer’s work; each of his
records as L’ombre have distinct personalities and demonstrate
Sawyer’s continued growth as an artist. Simulations 2.0 is just the
next iteration in that evolution, adding propulsive beats and gritty
urban sizzle to his already immaculately constructed static-laced
ambience. Bravo.
Simulations 2.0 is out now on Ant-Zen.
