IDM Mailing Archive

Rioux's Records now carries the Involve label from New Zealand...full catalog now in stock! Ordering instructions at the bottom of this mailer. Thanks for having a look. ASPEN - Album CD (Elephant) NZ $14.00 "New Zealand - the final Eden; verdant hills, sheep like grounded angel-white clouds, postcard-perfect mountains, fuzzy gray birds, unparalleled pop, provocative noise. But not exactly the first name to come to mind when the subject is electronic music. Wellington’s Bevan Smith might just change that. Album was released quietly last year, and its generous length and composite nature 71 subtlety-packed minutes spanning several years of work as a solo artist - make for a record to which you’ll find yourself constantly returning. Highlights such as ‘Paused’, ‘Dropped’, ‘Eeez’, ‘Wedding Song (Again)’, ‘Nighten’ and ‘Bathroom Toy Boy’ drip with the pearlescent synth tones and inviting polymelodies fundamental to the Skam-sound embodied by current consensus-favorites Bola and Boards of Canada. ‘Perfect Winter In Feb’ adds peppy breakbeats and a pinch of dub for one of Albums most irresistible offerings. Chain Reaction-like minimal techno miniatures (‘Mantrinam,’ ‘Pusher,’ ‘Art Techen,’ ‘Bicycle Underwater’) and Detroit-derived gems (‘Ratus Ratus,’ ‘2+4,’ ‘Rejection Letter’) scattered throughout the album work themselves to provocative rhythmic peaks within remarkably short timeframes, lending strength to the argument that brevity is the soul of genius. But the few lengthier pieces (‘Aura,’ ‘Lost At Sea’) are magnificent, seemingly blooming in sultry slow motion from carpets of luxuriant melodic drone. Yes, some patience is required if one’s to absorb and savor the wealth of music contained here. Perseverance is rewarded, though, as the appeal of Smiths lovely, small-scale electronica grows exponentially with every listen. He has a way with unassuming sounds which is completely disarming once the music has been allowed to permeate your consciousness. A few more musicians like Smith - apparently Jet Jaguar, Peak: Shift and Patio are already waiting in the wings - and New Zealand's electronic underground won't remain a secret for much longer." - GG for (http://motion.state51.co.uk). ELECD02. ASPEN - Are you that retail snob? CD (Involve) NZ $14.00 "Were you to retrofit Klaus Schulze’s lushly strobing and scintillating synth-sequenced alpha waves with the finest in Y2K-compliant rhythm craft, you might find yourself in the province of New Zealand’s Bevan Smith. With his second Aspen album, a much more focused Smith lets his brain-bending ophidian melodies uncoil to the tick of a hip hop-tinged electro metronome. Chugging gently and softly sputtering, such pieces as "Super SL," "Two Months Ago," and (Aspen alias) Signer’s fibrillating mix of the gorgeous title track wind their way along cursive courses like trains of thought levitated above superconductive tracks. On "Anniversary," Aspen’s overexerted engine car pulls into the station for a spell of blissful, dream-soaked slumber, steaming ahead refreshed and refueled as the early light of "Live V.7" breaks. The end of the line is "Forgotten Last Moments" - a deserted Outback depot where, bathed in the eerie iridescence of the aurora australis, Aspen’s electronic express patiently awaits its next call. Truly transportative music. All aboard!" - label press release. INVOLVE 01. JET JAGUAR - S/T CD (Involve) NZ $14.00 "Jet Jaguar is Michael Upton. Well, obviously Jet Jaguar was an Ultraman-esque humanoid robot-type in Godzilla versus Megalon, but in this case, Jet Jaguar is Michael Upton, Wellington recording artiste and samplemeister. Michael has been recording electronic music since 1993. He has been in several groups such as ‘duplo’, ‘monkey shuttle’ and is presently involved with Wellington’s ‘dub connection’ Great sweeping washes of sound over intricate, almost insectoid, rhythm patterns, and a strong sense of space- real dynamics. Jet Jaguar takes a much funkier outlook than label-mate and collaborator Aspen, and is more immediate than Aspen's studied ambience. Don’t be fooled by all this techno-geek talk, the album really swings, lending a warmth common with much recent smart electronic music i.e. B. Fleischmann, Solvent, Isan, etc. There's a dubby feel to the drifting basslines, particularly on the track 'Errol', recalling Kit Clayton's latest, and of course, Pole. It's all constructed on Upton's sampler from a variety of sound sources (Radio Pacific talk back included), with the exception of 'Cul-De-Sac' which was co-written by, and features the trumpet of, Toby Nairobi. As usual, with Involve, it's a well-designed package too. Quality stuff indeed." - label press release. INVOLVE 02. PATIO - Parallel Play CD (Involve) NZ $14.00 "New Zealand’s Involve label has another hot one on its hands. This time artists Aspen and Jet Jaguar are collaborating as Patio, fusing Aspen’s deep near-ambient of Are You That Retail Snob? with Jet Jaguar’s precise beats. These two seamlessly bounce ideas off of each other as they slide through electro, ambient and dub techno and even touch on the micro-vocal cutups that are all the rage. Real drums power "Liam Let It Rain," "Purist Trap" puts spoken words into a blender and comes out with rhythmic phonemes that perfectly match the clicking rhythms and enfolding ambiance, and "Effeminate Bus Driver" is what Bola should sound like. Like Australian neighbor Thug, the residents of the Involve label are proving that experimental music need not disappear entirely into circuitboards, nor mindlessly hug happy keyboard drones, but can find an instantly accessible midpoint that stands up to repeated listens." -Rob Geary. INVOLVE 03. SIGNER - Giving it up to feel effected CD (Involve/Universal) NZ $14.00 "Top NZ producer Bevan Smith returns under the signer guise producing an album of tracks as ‘experiments in the movement of ambient music’. The music is deep, bass heavy feeds through shifting textures. Both minimalist and loverly. Inspirations are gained from the Berlin dub-techno scenes and there exists the same serenity and beauty as produced in last involve releases. Andrew Duke’s number 1 for May http://techno.ca/cognition/emay00.htm." - label press release. Recommended if you like Vladislav Delay, Kit Clayton, etc. INVOLVE 04. ------------------------ Ordering info. -- Drop me an e-mail <riouxs@aol.com>, call toll-free 1-877-838-7616, or (330) 837.7616 FAX your order to (330) 837.3928 or write to us at the address below with the titles that you want. We'll hold your titles for up to 3 weeks and then return them to the public forum. regards, jason / nate / all other staffers @ rioux's records. Rioux's Records 1539 Byron Ave. SW Massillon, OH 44647 U.S.A. www : http://www.riouxs.com tele. toll free U.S. : 1.877.838.7616 tele. (330) 837.7616 fax. (330) 837-3928 Storefront : Rioux's Records 6 Lintner Court, Shop 1 Navarre, OH 44662 U.S.A. Shop tele : 330.879.5728 Shop fax : 330.879.5734 --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org