(07.26.06) As the Summer days gently pass by, so does the new Minerals Series on Edinburgh’s premier electronic label: Benbecula. The Minerals Series began in December 2005 with the release of a 13-album box set that sold like hot cakes. The Scots realized they were on to an immediate winner and decided to continue the series, releasing roughly one album a month in very limited quantities. This series of CD albums from new and unknown artists is a project founded on the concept of deep, lush electronics with the intention of showcasing new electronic talent. The latest release in the series is by Michael Santos and is entitled Matters.
This is the first release by Santos, a young artist from Leeds in England. The boys in the North were blown away after hearing Santos’ demo in February 2006, now a handful of months later Matters is available. The Politics student did not start his musical days in the isolation of urban Leeds, as many may think on hearing this very personal yet alienating album, Santos played in a number of indie and post rock bands during his early days. Matters is a shift away from Santos’ rock roots. The album is totally ambient, moving into the more abstract and peculiar terrain of electronica. Most will know that ambient music can be very hit and miss, many have failed miserably having just created twenty minutes of drone and dullness. How does Santos’ attempt to master such an abstract sound fair?
The album is an ambient excursion, leading the listener through the vast fields and currents of electronic sound, from organic drones to industrial barrages. Santos uses droning electric currents, but up glitch and CPU noise to construct an organic sound that is both refreshing and atmospheric. This Yorkshire artist slowly develops his sound, emancipating waves of pleasant warm electronica on the ears.
The album opens with “Sounds Like Déjà Vu;” a gentle track easing the listener down that path that Santos has created. “Light 8” moves into the plateau of full-on ambient music with an 8 minute odyssey of interesting sound. As the album develops, an element of the urban enters. From the meadows of breezy electronic sound and soothing slides, Matters moves into the concrete noise of the cityscape. “Edinburgh New Year” is a wonderfully computer glitch driven track, emitting noises emblematic of the impersonality of high speed subterranean trains, soot covered track lights and life in the metropolis. Santos skips back and forth for the remainder of the LP between the mellow and more natural sounds to the harsher glitch and buzz of his industrial estranging soundscapes; yet even these urban based tracks have a raw and compelling beauty like a piece of steel.
Santos has achieved something with this release. For years now ambient music has been swept aside by record labels for the more classic electronic sound of crisp computer beats and string melodies. Since Brian Eno and Aphex Twins’ Selected Ambient Works Vol. 2, the realm of ambient music seems to have been conquered and to wander into this arena and attempt to compete would seem headstrong and foolish to many. Yet Santos is not trying to compete for the limelight, he is merely trying to get his sound out there. As ambient album’s go, Matters is a very good one. It is full of beautiful tracks and does not adhere to just one line of ambient sound but explores various avenues and scenarios from whence the music can come. This is the fourth installment in the Mineral Series and definitely one of the best. It is a true pleasure to see a new artist get his music released, especially when it is finely crafted, whilst watching Benbecula continue to release top notch electronic outings.
Matters is out now on Benbecula.
