It’s been quite some time since anything has been heard from the UK-based Neo Ouija label, as Lee Norris had to effectively close up shop due to other commitments. And so now Neo Ouija is run from Germany by Lee’s friend Martin Hirsch. The re-launch has been some time in the making and is marked by the release of an old friend – a Cottage Industries compilation album. It’s a suitably epic two-disc presentation, each disc showcasing markedly different listening experiences that are presumably intended to serve as a statement of intent for the two directions in which the label will pull with its future releases.
It has to be said, however, that the first disc is easily the superior here. It’s a veritable who’s-who of references, influences and homage’s in the Detroit techno vein, and it positively glitters. MXM’s “The Untitled Deep” opens proceedings and really sets the bar. It almost sounds like the room is delicately inhaling it through the speakers as a wonderfully engineered, silky and atmospheric sci-fi drone drapes itself across the soundstage as crisp, fresh percussion flirts playfully with squelching bass melodies. Tilman Ehrhorn’s “Supernova” exudes a sensuous, Clear-era Morgan Geist production, incredibly layered with crackling percussion, flashes of brilliant, lens-flare synth stabs and pin-sharp fx. Remove_ are up next with what to all intents and purposes sounds like an homage to the great B12 in their heyday. All the elements are there: the dusty, reverbed hi-hats, slip-sliding pads and acid squelch. Vidiomo’s Pridon traverses similar territory, though opts for a softer, more uneasy B12 feel.
Things get a little more mixed up as the disc progresses, with excellent entries from the likes of Deer, whose “Closet Gap” is a buzzing tropical forest of digital insect chatter, or the tighter groove of Dimitar Dodovski’s “Aluminium Bend” (is even the title of that an Echospace reference?) that emits bright, almost dub-techno elements.
Disc Two is an intelligently put together, more classically IDM themed experience of marathon proportions that much more closely resembles previous Cottage Industries compilations. As a consequence, like its predecessors its also something of a mixed bag. You might be forgiven for thinking, for a few moments at least, that you’re listening to something from Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto’s “Insen” sessions when Build Buildings’ “Letter Codes” starts up, the stuttering and stuck keys and parched sound effects (that also recall the atmosphere of Xela’s For Frosty Mournings and Warm Summer Nights) sound so similar. “Orange Song” sounds like an off-cut from Kangding Ray’s recent Automne Fold album (no bad thing it has to be said), though it is certainly a little lighter in tone. There’s a typically IDM entry from the dependable Seven Ark that would sit happily with his own album, previously released on Neo Ouija, an odd-ball jazz number from Plexus Instruments or the dysfunctional Toytronic styling of nq’s “Maiz Linkholm.” Even Norris himself offers an unusual, short closing piece featuring a real piano solo and a distorted sampled conversation. There’s something for everyone here.
So, whilst Disc One is something of a surprise coming from the Neo Ouija camp, Disc Two continues a long tradition, offering up a characteristically diverse range of electronic styles in typically broad-minded Neo style. It’s a win-win situation.
Diaspora is out now on Neo Ouija.
