Experimental bass lines, synthetic distortions, soothing melodies, reflective rhythms, isolated beeps, flickers and ashes tend to hum smoothly in this brisk forty-eight minutes of electronics.
[Release page] As one of the leading sound designers of the late 90’s through today, Richard Bailey (aka Proem) has always stayed in top form, not only as a musician, but also as a forward-thinking visual expressionist. Producing classic rhythm structures filled to the brim with depth and an absorbing delivery, each of his creations, live or prepared, is painstakingly original that it’s become the leading template other musicians strive for. Expanding his scope, a follow-up to the ambient shades of Till There’s No Breath (Nonresponse, 2009), Enough Conflict is his latest for n5MD and represents yet another era of fine-tuned analog-to-digital carving.
We let Proem’s latest sound garden settle over the past year, giving it a long-term test drive, so to speak. After several spins in the countryside as well as on highly-trafficked freeways, quiet suburban streets, and precarious alley ways, Enough Conflict covers a lot of terrain and doesn’t struggle along the way. Instead, it diffuses any pre-conceived notions of IDM, flips it over, and realigns the signal to noise ratio.
Experimental bass lines, synthetic distortions, soothing melodies, reflective rhythms, isolated beeps, flickers and ashes tend to hum smoothly in this brisk forty-eight minute opus. Crafting an emotional buttress to his previous body of work, interspersed vocals, piano solo’s and accelerated twists and turns has Enough Conflict miles ahead of the pack. Breeding a full-range of tactile maneuvers, Proem skillfully creates an audio collage of harmony versus chaos. The artwork for this digipak, painted /designed by Richard Bailey, further exemplifies the marriage between surreal organic and inorganic elements; its visual abstraction and colorful beauty defines the inner workings.
Even though emotion is n5’s signature, artists like Proem manage to unearth a personal mission statement that remains at the edges of each audio escapement. It’s a given that physical objects were used to create these intricate sounds, however, they don’t come to life until administered by a human. Enough Conflict is testament to that human aspect, allowing each mile driven to be even more rewarding than the previous.
Enough Conflict is out now on n5MD. [Release page]
