Deep machine music with just the right balance of bite and bloom. Styles coming together, forming, shaping and gelling into a wonderfully familiar difference. A great start from this fledgling imprint.
I like the European project. There ya go. There’s been an awful amount of talk about it over the last five years. Blame assigned, re-assigned. Austerity. But beyond the blame, beyond the fiscal there is the cultural and the free movement of people. Movement means the interchange of ideas. Yeah, we all have the internet now and everything speeds through fiber optics, but there’s something about the physical. The meeting of real and discussion without electricity before I get too wavy lined and Euro loved up, let’s get back to the music.
A decent amount of Spaniards have moved to Germany. Wirtschaftswunder versus 25% unemployment. This migration has brought musicians to central Europe and especially the faux electronic Mecca of Berlin. But despite the bouncy castle antics and over-hype of the German capital there is always some quality squeezing through the plastic. The latest overcoming the syrup are from my adopted hometown of Madrid.
ALLISANDNOT is the striking appellation of a new label, one inaugurated by WC00160 and Abono. These names might not be known to many, but there lies the beauty of discovery. This Untitled four tracker would sit happiest on the techno shelf but the style is not one for pigeonholing. Rough, ruffled and raw rhythms permeate the 12”. Beats and bass pound for the opening track, but behind this coarse undercurrent lurks a lilting soulful melody. These subtle harmonies that stalk the entire EP. Shifting synths and plush pads kept in check by steady pulsing percussion. At times drum patterns lean into house, cacophonies of claps culminating in crescendo, hi-hats and cymbals crashing. Even some acidic notes tumble past the warm atmospherics which glow across the record. And it’s this permanency of mood that characterizes the entire outing, one which makes this debut stand out.
If I were to pull out a comparison for WC00160 and Abono’s first 12” it would be Breaker 1 2. But comparisons are pretty cheap and there’s much more to these newcomers. But let’s have some more. Flecks of L.I.E.Ss. Whispers of Lux Rec. Bits of Berlin techno. Tweaks of IDM. Specks of Larry Heard mixed with Jamal Moss, smoothed out by B12. Genres criss-crossed, like the train tracks of Europe. Deep machine music with just the right balance of bite and bloom. Styles coming together, forming, shaping and gelling into a wonderfully familiar difference. A great start from this fledgling imprint.
Untitled is out via ALLISANDNOT and available at Remember to Forget.
