Of the Toytronic veterans, there are two entries from label owner Chris Cunningham’s Abfahrt Hinwil, “Everything Is Green” being an embodiment of their classic electro style whilst “Of 1,” easily one of the best tracks here –is a seamlessly integrated, coruscating flow of crystalline keys, glacial washes and atmospheric pads. There’s the peculiar track of two labels, “20th Of June” from Gimmik, the first being a dark, slashed drone drowned in computer noise whilst the second sounds for all the world like an instrumental cover version of OMD’s “Enola Gay” –and Num Num contributes “Foot Switch,” a simmering electro piece that ranks as one of their finest offerings to date.
Surprisingly, the entry that arguably most closely resembles the early Toytronic sound is “Higher Contrast Information” from a newcomer to the label, Point 7, a frenzied blend of bleepy, analogue Toytronica, complex rhythms and a cut-up, freeform structure that mutates and reinvents from start to finish.
“Sticklebrick Symphony” offers a taste of what is to expect from Ochre’s forthcoming A Midsummer Nice Dream album for Toytronic that, on the basis of the samples available at Toytronic’s website, should prove to be another excellent solo release from the label.
There are some extremely thinly veiled parodies and homage’s going on here, some good, and some not so good. The easily drawn parallels to Autechre’s work extends right from the reverbs and pads in “Sel Alterat,” so reminiscent of Incunabula (Autechre) that it could almost have been lifted straight from it – all the way through to the track title and the name of the artist, Boc Scadet. There are the familiar bleeps and semi-destroyed crunches of the Multiplex-esque offerings from Koordinate of Wonder.
Conversely, there’s the entry from Low Profile Society, eschewing the rather dull Aphex Twin inspired ambient music of their 3D Concepts release for rather lifeless Mu-ziq and Aphex Twin styled harsh beats, or Cultek’s “Minds Beyond” which is far too proud of its central sample and, at over ten and a half minutes, is milking it slightly.
Fortunately, the positives easily outweigh the negatives. Whilst some of the more recent Toytronic releases have seen the label making a departure from their trademark sound – the string quartet infused Digitonal album or the ambient 3D Concepts series, for example – with a few exceptions (a somewhat less than stellar album by Multiplex, for example) the quality has remained extremely high and this is certainly true of the majority of Everything Is Green.
Whilst it tends to be the artist specific releases at which Toytronic excels, Everything Is Green is a fantastic sampler that holds much promise for future releases, presenting a rich spectrum of styles to enjoy that will also please long-time fans of the classic Toytronic sound. As a result, Everything Is Green comes highly recommended.
Everything Is Green is out now on Toytronic Records.
