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Mark Streatfield (a.k.a.) Zainetica (who also runs Rednetic Recordings) delivers a tranquil 5-track EP of delicious electronica following up from his Remembrance EP earlier this year. Never At Peace is a symphony of majestic analog swirls that also treads gently into pensive ambient territory. “Freedom,” the opener on Never At Peace flourishes with willow-tree rhythms brushed against upbeat percussion just as “Lovelost” unleashes an atmosphere of fragile emotions. This passionate EP also contains “Feelings That Cannot Be Expressed,” a minimal experiment that unveils vocodered moments struggling to release itself from the confines of a cold landscape. “We Have No Voice” sheds similar vocodered chants as it gradually expands and contracts its bleeped-out sine waves. The title track, closing off this 30-minute EP navigates through similar chord structures meshed with Zainetica’s weaving vocal highlights –its direction and overall textured progressions makes this EP an effective, low-key ambient excursion worth the purchase price.
Never At Peace is out now on Boltfish Records.
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Wil Bolton’s Cheju moniker is one to pay attention to. As the Boltfish label co-owner, Wil is not afraid to captivate his audience with highly emotional tracks, paying close attention to the relationship between sound and feeling. With distinctive vocal compliments by Soo Lee, Cheju allows time to casually blur ambient energy and hypnotizing spurts of lyrical beauty; such is the case with “Shinchon,” the opening track on this EP. “Dragon Head Rock” manifests pure simplicity as waves of ambience wash away tears of joy. “Sometimes” reaches into the melody bin and punctuates a vibe that runs parallel to Abfahrt Hinwil-styled rhythms. The closing track aptly titled “Departure” is an uplifting ambient entity that tugs at the heartstrings with its Enya enriched layering until it fades away. As The Leaves Turn could easily be the soundtrack to nostalgic memories of times past, but it may also signify the ever changing weather patterns of life as the leaves turn to signal such an event.
As The Leaves Turn is out now on Boltfish Records.
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Japan resident Joseph Auer uses a laptop, a power supply, some software, some electricity and emotions to create his sonic sound-escapes. On Fading From Here, propulsive analog basslines punch through the monitors as chiseled beats fracture the foundations of atypical electronics. “VIII” is a classic example of this formula –rugged downtempo rhythms fluctuate against dense beats. While most of Fading From Here encapsulates the beat-infested sounds of exp-electronics, some of the ideas on this EP seem to rust away without causing much of an effect. The analog feel of this album is a radioactive conglomeration of piercing effects that might line up well with fans of Spark (n5MD) and Linenoise (Lacedmilk). A plethora of percussive elements clash against fragments of melodic ambience without veering too far into generic equations of electro. Often dark and brooding, Fading From Here features well executed beat programming tied to loosely crafted analogous bass. And although consistency seems to be the governing factor on this 10-track “EP,” it might have been more amusing to allow these musical concepts to flourish even further with the abundance of quality beat juggling.
Fading From Here is out now on Boltfish Records.
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