(08.06.08) Milieu is the brainchild of Brian Grainger from South Carolina, USA. Recording under many pseudonyms such as Parallax, Vhom, Coppice Halifax and also under his own name, Grainger is an amazingly prolific electronic musician with a impressive release schedule. Having released albums for U-Cover, Experimedia, Infraction, Rope Swing Cities, Expanding Electronic Diversity and Unlabel amongst many others, Grainger also runs his own label (Second Sun) to keep up with the level of output he maintains through small run CDR releases. Often involved in the artwork for his releases, Grainger is also a multi-instrumentalist who taught himself to play guitar, drums, bass and keyboard without any formal tutorage.
Remodelled, his debut release on the UK’s Bolfish Recordings label, is a compilation of alternate version of tracks from his main project Milieu and also a couple from another of his projects, Parallax. The album’s photographic artwork – designed by Boltfish co-owner Cheju and Grainger himself – contains the minimum of information with no indication where the released version of each of the tracks can be found.
Grainger’s music itself has two main composite parts; a sweeping ambient backdrop that forms the counterpoint to rhythmic drum breaks. The ambient, melodic aspects of Grainger’s work, on this release anyway, are present throughout but the rhythms and keyboard are the largely dominant factors in these recordings. While the breaks and rhythms provide an upbeat sense of energy, the underlying textural ambient qualities bring a more subdued tone to the overall feeling of the tracks on Remodelled, the counterpoints again working with each other to produce contrasting moods, complimenting each other instead of conflicting. The mellower, moodier aspects of Grainger’s work are atmospheric and maybe even cinematic in some respects while the rhythmic elements are more organic (“Elep,” “Forest (Fast Edit),” the Parallax track “Thrum”) or clinical in nature (“Biketrail 2,” “Glasshill (Gravel Bank)”). Even where his tracks have a more precise digital feel to them, they are often mixed with traditional drum sounds to warm up the often clinical tone. Opening with the manic drumming of “Hidden Paths,” Remodelled settles into its recognisable pattern of rhythms/breaks over more tranquil ambient tones from the second track onwards. Although there are similarities between a majority of the tracks, as might only be expected from an artist with such incredible work rate as Grainger, the compiled tracks here do not follow any rigid formula, choosing instead to take a concept and stretch it in many different directions, experiment with it and try out as many different reinterpretations as possible. Swinging from the relaxed atmosphere of “Elep” through manic experimentation of “Hidden Paths” and on to atmospheric soundtrack ambience of “Forest (Fast Edit),” Remodelled explores the genre Grainger works in, not afraid to try new ideas and rework old ones.
For an album compiled from alternate takes from any number of sources and releases, Remodelled is remarkably coherent. Many of the tracks sit well together and provide an insight into Grainger’s subtle experimentation and the way in which he develops and moves forwards with an idea, taking it in different directions as it develops. If melodic beat infused electronic music is your chosen genre you could do a lot worse than explore Grainger’s extensive back catalogue.
Remodelled is out now on Boltfish. [Download
