Twelfth Listen is a treasure trove of IDM delights, exploring experimentally intact soundscapes. Spread across a vast and impenetrable foray, PCL have cultivated a lasting compilation series.
A treasure trove of IDM delights
By now, IDM and experimental electronic music enthusiasts should already have heard and collected People Can Listen‘s Listen compilation series. Always on point, the Belarus imprint strives at presenting and punctuating precision electronics from artists across this circular cosmic spot. The cool and mechanical frequency bursts complimented by the consistent cover art (with changing color scheme and projection angles) features a futuristic image of the subway transit system—perhaps hinting at forward momentum and sound structures that create a blur on the senses. And indeed, Twelfth Listen does that (again).
From the skittering beats of Sedatic to XenModel’s frenetic, turbocharged acid breaks, Twelfth Listen expands and contracts with ease. Anitta’s downtempo and brittleness is contrasted with The Tin Box’s microscopic melodic flutter. Cosmic Noise Crew slows the pace with broken ambient washes as Marric and Dael Phonom calm the flow with ambient bursting bubbles. S!CN4RF distills and stretches modular fluctuations with Kothius breaking rhythms into a brisk and delicately woven electronica fabric.
With so much more tucked between and around the edges, Twelfth Listen is a treasure trove of IDM delights, exploring experimentally intact soundscapes. Spread across a vast and impenetrable foray, PCL have cultivated a lasting compilation series. For those that recall the early days of Skam, Djak-Up-Bitch (DUB), Toytronic, Neo Ouija, et al—this series follows a parallel trajectory, presenting fresh ideas in a new decade.
Twelfth Listen is available on People Can Listen. [Bandcamp]
