Reviews RCD2016
The opening 'Lavenderloops' is one of the most astonishing tracks you will hear this year, layered vocoders twisting into disembodied psychic reel, while 'Cook Islands' plaites vocal abstractions into vivid synapse-tapestry. It's all too easy for electronic wanderers to rely on the glitch and the drone: this brilliantly unnerving record repaints the atmosphere in a thousand shades of strange. 8/10.
New Musical Express (UK)
Crystal clear production and visionary artistry make this a brilliant sophomore effort and one of the label's best releases yet.
Motion (UK)
50 minutes of sublime sonic experimentation that seldom loses your attention and gets down to inventing it´s own, runic musical language. A quiet triumph.
Muzik (UK)
A strange and beautiful beast.
The Wire(UK)
A second album from Norwegian Espen Sommer Eide, his first on this consistently interesting label. It's digital stuff, Eide's own software gradually mutating loops in a gentle and very modern ambient style. His sounds change with a very naturalsounding unpredictability, it´s beautiful.
Flux (UK)
Drones and glitches have become the lingua franca of experimental electronica and it is rare that an artist forces them to articulate anything different. Genetic Engineering begins with the striking Lavenderloops, twisting vocodered phrases into a beautiful melody. The occasional vocals, as on End of all Things, enhance the disembodiment, a sense of mental static lovingly pressed on to a small silver disc.
The Times (UK)
Both (Phonophani and Supersilent) possess the ability to let you wander off yet find yourself returning to their absorbing textures, becoming an integral part of your environment, as per Eno's definition of ambient. Beware, instant hit music is a barely visible dot on the horizon from this, but if you've got some time and concentration to spare, these are worth spending it on. 8/10.
Wax (UK)
An often unsettling slice of electronica combining melody and subliminal disturbances.
Mojo (UK)
Phonophani distils his obfuscated samples into post-Oval music that is strange, beautiful and moving. PhonopaniÕs boreal scrapes, throbs and ticks are as emotive as any other record issued this year.
Ammocity (UK)
An admirable grasp of musical means with a fascinating result. Another recommended release from Rune Grammofon.
Extract (NO)
Sommer Eide is simply a master of the computer and the sampler. Eight tracks so organic that they positively breath by themselves. An etheric joy to listen to.
Osloposten (NO)
There's a pureness of tone to Eide's programming, the sounds glassy and icy, a windyness and distance like Sigur Ros, the depth of Vladislav Delay.
Other Music (US)
Somewhere between ambient dub and the most innovative electronica.
Plan B (NO)