There is an overflow of styles buried here that gracefully places its signature on a variety of sonic colors, predominately green (as the cover suggests). Elaborating on the strengths of their roster of talent and veering left of any one particular path, this seventeen-track manifesto is a proverbial forest of lush, organic branches.
An abundance of green foliage for Herb‘s sixth year of euphonious operations sees Verdant slicing through just about every electronic sub-genre with punctuated precision. True there may be an onslaught of compilations to sift through this year alone, however, it’s these fragments all positioned in succession that allows fans to dip their ears into something new, something different. Verdant does just that.
The years of hard work trying to keep an independent label afloat allows the artists flexibility to concentrate on their craft(s), while the label focuses on output. Craig Murphy (aka Solipsism and Herb owner) somehow balances his time with music production and running the Glasgow-based imprint. Verdant lets this synergy of musical skills unfold smoothly from start to end; an eclectic cocktail of seven delectable ingredients: Dub experiments (via Vedette, Haz, Solipsism, Shamanic Technology), IDM bliss (via The Pad Foundation, Small Radio, Ulle Kamelle, Jack Marchment), ambient simplicity / textured drones (via Phasen, Obon), dance-friendly electrical pop (via Megamegamen), skewed dub / reggae (via Pumajaw), shoegaze-ambient, instrumental and organic pop (via Shoosh, Skywatchers, Skytree, Kingbastard), and downbeat chill (via Engine7 & The Lotus Project). This is quite a spoonful to take in one sitting.
There is an overflow of styles buried here that gracefully places its signature on a variety of sonic colors, predominately green (as the cover suggests). Elaborating on the strengths of their roster of talent and veering left of any one particular path, this seventeen-track manifesto is a proverbial forest of lush, organic branches. As its listeners pass through each layer, a varietal mixture of Herb’s mission emerges from the undergrowth. Kudos to Herb for diving deep into leftfield and causing its audience to get lost in the process.
Verdant is out now on Herb.
