Silent Season

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Having been following Jamie McCue’s Silent Season for a while it’s great to see this compilation album coming to fruition. Taking a broad look at the deeper end of the techno and ambient spheres it’s a comprehensive collection that’s as varied as it is beautiful. Artists both known and not so well-known feature and it’s the blend of styles that makes it stand out so nicely.

Beginning with the icy ambient atmospheres and oriental leanings of No Accident In Paradise’s ICE you’ll instantly get a feel for how this is going to flow. Gorgeous field recordings of splashing water and naturalistic sounds combine with the underlying textures and long chords to give you a completely meditative feel that easily hypnotises and enchants. As the more melodic tone of the koto is brought in the track becomes full of vibrant life, complementing as it does the backing sounds.

From there we move into the more dubbed out sounds of Skyscraper / Ekelon and Mikrokristal who each deliver thoughtful takes on what it means to be deep. Skyscraper / Ekelon opt for a half-speed cut with an almost shuffle style. It’s not particularly beaty but it doesn’t need to be as the synth sounds, deep rolling bass and subtle percussion keep it moving. Mikrokristal’s track is a super slice of downbeat groove with a classic bassline and warm, friendly chord layers.

Next up we have Inanitas with a sublime ambient piece. Carved from the same stone as the work of the legendary Gas in some ways, it uses a subtly resonating chord layer with flowing drifts of muted sound shimmering across. A melodic sound and a definite nod to ‘90’s electronic and ambient make this another relaxing track.

Martin Juhls under his krill.minima moniker adds in a light and airy track with strong yet delicate melodies and a soft, breathy feel. Washes of grainy sound in the background add even more texture to what is essentially a deeply lovely and fragile sounding piece of work.

The following section of tracks take more of a classic techno approach, albeit it a low-key one. SEAS are up first with a rolling piece built around the insistent bass tone and 4/4 beat with a simple and completely effective selection of chords playing over the top. Mr. Cloudy offers up a trademark cut with echoing chord stabs, a pitched-down kick drum and a minimal bass sound. Staying relatively static throughout it’s left to the gentle filtering on the tones to deliver that hypnotic vibe I adore.

Rie Lambdoll / Relapxych.0 give us one of the highlights of the album for me with a track that’s rather unusual. Harking back to mid-‘90s techno and electronics it almost feels as if it could have come out on Rising High or Apollo back in the day. A slow 4/4 beat forms the basis for a splendid workout using vocals (yes, vocals!), layers of chords and a cool Leftfield style bassline that rumbles along very nicely. What’s so cool about it is the way it adds in different sounds to vary the tone but remains totally hypnotic. It’s an almost intangible feeling but works really well.

Martin Schulte, Shinsuke Matsumoto and Ohwert each conjure up themes based on the grooviness and movement of techno and dub sounds. Schulte’s cut is probably the most overtly funky track on the album but always holds back from being full-on. Super sounds and a chunky beat keep the momentum going in the finest of styles. Shinsuke’s track is much more sub-aquatic with a low-end kick drum, nice conga percussion and a very cool line in hypnotic chord stabs. A definite Berlin vibe pervades every second of this track. Ohrwert really is an artist of substance and here he puts together an utterly gorgeous techno track built around a luscious set of chord sounds that are melodic and joyously ambient. The beat keeps it grooving, but in a way that conjures up sunsets and Sunday afternoons.

It’s left to Mr. Zu to finish things up and this he does with a charming beatless number constructed with an electric piano melody line and a refined set of melancholy chords. It’s a fitting finale to an album that makes no bones about that fact it’s all about the depth of electronic music and provides a chilled out coda to an all round brilliant album.

If you enjoy listening to great quality electronics this album is another must-have from this absolutely superb label.

Remote Thoughts - Mike Smallfish

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