“[9980] is a small jewel of an EM which this time embraces the aromas of a Berlin School lost in the lascivious dances of the haughtiness morphic down-tempos”
1 Evolution 1:1 8:33 2 Snow Park 9:02 3 [9980] 8:10 4 Mol 9:09 5 Fossil 11:07 6 Take Off (album edit) 6:53 7 Gentle Perception 5:14 8 Time to Time by Time 7:55 9 Winter Sorrows 7:13 INRE054
(CD 76:13) (V.F.)
(Ambient Down-Tempo EDM)
Silvery breezes whistle like cosmic sirens over the breaths of spatial machinery, revealing an extraterrestrial fauna which feeds the intro of Evolution 1:1 and of its heavy and slow down-tempo. The breaths of apocalypse espouse the strikings of percussions, merging into a strange organic rhythm which trembles of its heavy bass line. The rhythm heavy and morphic, Evolution 1:11 kicks off this collaboration between Hidetoshi Koizumi (Hybrid Leisureland) and Alexandre Scheffer (Cell) who respects the atmospheres and the organicosmic rhythms whom enjoy the vast majority of the works that we find on the Lyon based label Ultimae Records. Realized between Tokyo and Paris, [9980] is a mosaic of lunar ballads which float and waltz into morphic ambiences. Lunar ballads which sometimes are alike and are charming with a shady identity on rhythms and melodies finely chiselled, sleeping in an electronic fauna where the subtleties abound and bring the necessary nuances to those duels of cosmic sensualism which dance on great morphic down-tempos. A great album (are we surprised?) with musical and sound textures that fill up our ears and imagination to the brim.
From the uncertainty of the winds of Orion and the reverberating breaths of space shuttles, which drag their smoke dusts in astral corridors, is born Snow Park. Slow, the rhythm pops out of its heavy drones to hop weakly on sober percussions. The bass line is as much strong as soft. Its haunting curves draw a morphic slow tempo, hatching a splendid melodious line which sings of its fragile arpeggios under the breaths of a seraphic choir of which the breezes get melt into the rustlings of synth. But there is even softer and more lunar with the title-track which beats of its morphic pulse in a musical dream mellow for cosmic coitus. As almost everywhere on [9980], Connect. Ohm sprinkles its structure of extra-terrestrials tones and starry dusts, forging fragments of melodies which complement each other by interposed segments. Mol adopts the same rhythmic model with few variances close. The rhythm is also slow but imposes a crescendo procession with timeless loops (which appeared in the 2nd half of [9980]) that steal the ethereal choruses which abandon little by little a soft tempo. A tempo always so morphic which implodes with good percussions of which every blow imposes more heaviness to accompany this bass line which bites presently all rhythmic vegetation that grows throughout [9980].
Molded following the same precepts, Fossil offers a fine line of hyperactive sequences which ring in the absolute void before merging in a rhythmic structure which ages of its latent evolution. Sequences are bustling nervously. They pound and surround the arrhythmic strikings of pulsations and percussions, so winding an undecided rhythm trapped in its toxic cloud of galactic tones. And the embryo becomes a butterfly when the heavy down-tempo encircles our ears with percussions which slam around a trembling bass line, freeing one of these melodies which lovely tease the hearing. The movement of sequences reminds me the melodic rhythms of Tangerine Dream and that's even more convincing on Take Off which bathes in echoing loops and riffs of guitar dragging around in the dreamlike vapors of a wandering melody. Gentle Perception is a beautiful track that we don't hear coming, but which does its effect. Deprived of rhythms but rich in lunar ambiences, the movement soaks in an organic ambient landscape where is lapping a thick cloud of indefinite jingles. Dreamlike and floating, the structure reminds me strangely the slow processions of Solar Fields which are dying before imploding into a suave morphic down-tempo there where we waltz under a rain of Perseids. The synth multiplies its dreamy lines which float in emptiness, freeing breaths of angelic voices and a fine melodic filet, like in the long ambient phase that is Time to Time by Time and its metallic drops which fall into oblivion. Winter Sorrows concludes this very ambient/ spatial ode with oblong metallic drones which waltz against current in an ocean of atone synth lines. We hear the breaths of machineries in it to sculpture these lines avoiding with fright the thick cloud of stroboscopic circles that falls down on Winter Sorrows peace of mind which stirs up of its internal mutiny.
Once again the Ultimae Records label releases a small jewel of an EM which this time embraces the aromas of a Berlin School lost in the lascivious dances of the haughtiness morphic down-tempos. And nevertheless, the taming of [9980] wasn't an easy thing. Connect. Ohm throws a lot of subdued ambiences where circulate a thick cloud of cosmic tones on evolutionary structures which sound alike a lot. It's under the shells of my earphones that I finally succumbed to the charms of [9980] which abounds of a mass of nuances and subtleties which increase as we tame these perpetual structures. Musical structures which hide an incredible sound fauna that will delight the most whimsical of audiophiles.
Sylvain Lupari (November 23rd, 2012) *****
Available on Ultimae Records
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