New Caledonia is a welcomed foray of fragile, distinctive and home-grown electronics that merges rhythm and non-linear soundscapes with a panoramic vision of what it might be like to live in the middle of the Pacific. Danceable contortions and suitable arm-chair dissipation, UNOIKI have inhabited a space that transforms from one track to the next.
[Release page] The clean, dynamic and definitive minimalism of UNOIKI’s sonic architecture might be reminiscent of Raster-Noton and Electroton, however, there seems to be more of a sense of community within their network, label and collective. This sense of community is more up-front and integral to their success as they propagate various facets of design, sound, media, artists, thinkers and writers alike. Sleek and expressive in packaging their unique releases, New Caledonia is no different. Limited to just 100 physical copies (but also available digitally) this compilation bids a farewell to one of UNOIKI’s artists who has decided to move to the island of New Caledonia, located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. A themed release this might be, but it also enables the artists involved to image what life might be like on such a beautiful slice of planet Earth.
Gathering up nine tracks that ebb and flow around an abundance of cross-pollinated genres, New Caledonia aims to take the listeners on a proverbial tour that encapsulates the imprints visual-audio aesthetic. Storlin’s “Laai” emits an ethereal and tribal post-techno flow that even Alex Paterson (of The Orb) might enjoy on a cool evening. Dr.Nojoke’s experimental bass thumps on “Nouvelle Calédonie” takes French samples of the title and loops them over a bed of stretched synth lines and minimal electro-acoustic strands. DDrhode and Jesse Voltaire offer up chilled dub-techno diamonds on “Roots” and “Caledonian Tapestry,” respectively. Superlauncher’s “Open Water,” while buried in spherical ambience, maneuvers the senses like a slow-motion carousel near a still lake. Ten and Tracer’s “Warm Eco Idle” contains a fuzzy nostalgia of melodic swirls—slowly evolving and expanding its post-ambient flutter. There’s a dash of subdued Berlin techno-jazz on Humeka’s “Transit” as well as Andrés Marcos’s “Transmissions.” The funky bass stabs of J-Lab’s “To The Southern Cross” flickers its subtle light and slowly submerges itself during its near seven-minute duration.
New Caledonia is a welcomed foray of fragile, distinctive and home-grown electronics that merges rhythm and non-linear soundscapes with a panoramic vision of what it might be like to live in the middle of the Pacific. Danceable contortions and suitable arm-chair dissipation, UNOIKI have inhabited a space that transforms from one track to the next.
New Caledonia is available on UNOIKI. [Release page]