Tag Archives: VLSI

Switched On: Jonathan Krisp – Statement Foliage (VLSI)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Statement Foliage is described in the accompanying commentary on Bandcamp as ‘a continuation of Jonathan Krisp’s focus on the topography of natural and electronic haunts…merging complex twisting acid lines with glistening synths to evoke hallucinations of a retro-futuristic sun drenched landscape’.

It is his first release since 2019, when Rewilding showed him to be a very adaptable tunesmith, managing his own electronic bedding with flair and imagination.

What’s the music like?

As fresh as the title implies! Statement Foliage picks up where its predecessor left off, with music that throws open the doors and windows to beckon the listener outside. Best heard on headphones, it has an endearingly fresh approach to the scope of its textures, the brightness of the colours, the complex but very danceable rhythms and those twisted acid lines, which are indeed complex but which can wash over the listener like a stream.

A hushed voice and airy sound picture make Vanishing Point the ideal start, on which the warmth of Parhelion and Secret Well Springs Of The Soul build comfortably. Krisp’s music has a friendly tone, but the strength of the beats in Silo, an especially good track, should not be taken for granted, nor the inner power harnessed by Bridgid, with its watery riff and profile.

Krisp’s music is easy to engage with, and presents an optimistic outlook.

Does it all work?

It does. If anything Krisp could afford to make some of the tracks longer, to make the most of the green shoots offered by all the melodic material he has at his disposal.

Is it recommended?

It is indeed. There is a lot of positive energy at work here, and Jonathan Krisp delivers an album with fertile musical imagination and some really attractive colours – not to mention some really satisfying beats. Well worth exploring.

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Switched On: SareemOne – Olivine Window (VLSI)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Olivine Window is no ordinary album. Its origins lie in the Soviet spy satellite Cаяём1 (which translates roughly into English as ‘We speak as one’). This craft, launched in 1983, went missing and was thought to have ditched into the Laptev Sea – though no evidence was found to reinforce this claim.

The details were kept secret until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1988, at which point amateur radio enthusiasts started picking up a new transmission whose frequency was compromising that of other similar, high frequency stations.

This pioneering release collects recordings attributed to the station renamed Sareem1, then SareemOne. They have been restored, corrected and prepared for digital release by Mach V and Andy Gillham, of Echaskech, who have assigned each track a name from the ENIGMA logs where most of the recordings can be found.

The recordings are available digitally, or on cassette – while you can read the full story of the project here:

What’s the music like?

Compelling – and almost entirely weightless. The six compositions have no percussion or meaningful bass, meaning they exist as the original transmissions did – in mid-air. The melodies are extended to the point where each progression has a slow inevitability about it, slow enough to operate as a deep, ambient melody.

The wide-open panorama is established with Losing Nils, which has an air of melancholy, while The BCDE looks upwards to a more fragmented, heavily synthesized melody played over the top.

As the album progresses so the pieces become more substantial, with each maintaining a similar textural blueprint while varying in style. 3TIGHTGAPS has a slide guitar feel, its white noise and slow vibrato both uplifting and incredibly calming. There are hints of percussion in a slightly bassier interference, which also makes itself known in the thrumming introduction to Sol’s Goodbye. This flickers like a flame against broad background strokes, high in the treble range and carefully marshalled.

Between them the last two tracks last over 26 minutes, yet remain compelling to the close listener. Olivine Window itself has hints of the human voice and a diverse range of timbres, though its watery textures remain as a support throughout. Mastaba looks wider still, its textures akin to a massive intro for a shoegaze song, guitar-like sounds rippling over sustained notes. Rich chords and sonorous white noise combine to make the audio equivalent of cotton wool.

Does it all work?

It does. This is very deep ambient music, ideally produced and matching its cover art, which is the striking, immersive Day of Radiance Quilt by Susannah Eisenbraun

Is it recommended?

Yes, without hesitation. The fascinating back story demands to be read, and is more than matched by a soundtrack that does wonders for the mind.

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Switched On – VLSI live @ The Marquis – BUNKR & Echaskech

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VLSI @ The Marquis, Dalston

by Ben Hogwood

If atmospheric electronic music is your thing, the VLSI label have it in abundance – as they demonstrated in the dark recesses of the newly refurbished space downstairs in The Marquis on Dalston High Street.

The label is run by Dom Hoare and Andy Gillham, who together are Echaskech. They positioned themselves mid-evening in a packed schedule, giving a superb set of concrete-heavy beats, fulsome bass and impressive widescreen vistas, creating urban panoramas under moody skies. The music of the duo (below) has aged with impressive surety since their arrival nearly 20 years ago, complementing their descriptive music with sharply voiced keyboards and some intricate and brilliantly realised rhythm tracks.

BUNKR – Brighton’s James Dean – is an excellent addition to the VLSI roster, and his headline set was notable for its creators energy and passion at the controls. As with Echaskech, he makes descriptive music of real substance, and if anything his viewpoint has a wider perspective. He does this through spacey keyboards and sonorous melodic lines, while the beats were reassuringly solid once again. Dean’s live tweaking served up a treat to remind us how good his two albums for the label – The Initiation Well and Graveyard Orbit – really are. The evening at the Marquis was ideally paced, punctuated by involving and stimulating DJ sets from just b & Rossscco, alternating deep breakdowns with bigger, rolling beats.

This was an invigorating night, punters wreathed in smiles as they enjoyed the darkly tinged music and celebrated the creativity of a label that deserves to go a long way. Make sure you have a listen to their latest offerings below – including music from Octavcat, who also made a strong impression at the night but unfortunately Arcana was not on hand to tell you how much!

Switched On – BUNKR: Graveyard Orbit (VLSI Records)

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What’s the story?

It’s second album time for BUNKR. His time between albums one and two appears to have been well spent, with a keen emphasis on open textures and broad synth lines. The second BUNKR album is inspired by where satellites go when they die – Graveyard Orbit being a term for the universal car park they are moved to when operational life is done, and they are retired as space junk.

What’s the music like?

In a word, vibrant. The music for Graveyard Orbit is every bit as enjoyable as the BUNKR debut, and if anything a little more nuanced. There is also a touch of sadness about the satellites’ fate, felt most keenly in the beatless Vanguard Distress Signal.

Terminus 23 has an appealing warmth, while the glittering synths of Stargazing are rather special. 6am Eternal plays with expansive drones as a Bach-like synth line snakes through the textures, while Graveyard Orbit itself summons up a shuffling percussion track to go with its cool expanse. Glacial Shift is a woozy affair, the keyboards shimmering like the northern lights, while Astral Spectral pulses with activity, its quick beat and urgent lines rushing forwards. Dark Chorale has a subtle similarity to the harmonic movement of Primal Scream’s Come Together, which turns out to be a kindred spirit in feeling too.

Does it all work?

It does. BUNKR’S second album keeps everything that was good about the first, and builds on it rather effortlessly What’s not to like?

Is it recommended?

Very much so – as long as it is purchased in tandem with the first. With fluent writing and rhythmic invention, the Brighton-based producer has moved on a step from his already impressive achievements!

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Switched On – BUNKR: The Initiation Well Remixed (VLSI)

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

BUNKR’s album The Initiation Well proved to be one of the sleeper electronic hits of 2019, showing off the ability of Brighton’s James Dean to present an album of really well thought out electronica.

Now as a companion piece he has commissioned an album’s worth of remixes, with eight very different interpretations ranging from Digitonal to preston.outatime.

What’s the music like?

Both calming and invigorating, in equal measure. The collection is presented in a logical order, so we begin with a dreamy Digitonal remix of For The Birds, setting the scene beautifully as the track is left in suspension, bisected by a soft piano.

Fujiya & Miyagi do a typically fuzzy take on Solitary Drift, with added flutter and distortion that suits it really well – and their own half-whispered vocals. Octavcat then ensure Solar Wings takes off with its broad chords and busy rhythm.

The upfront, block beats of preston.outatime take Left For Dust to a tougher dancefloor, while Jonathan Krisp gets some acidic squiggles going against the slow moving backdrop of The Initiation Well itself. East Of Eden acquires more bleeps and movement, a really nice glitchy bit of techno applied by Lextron, while the remix of Docking Procedure finds Infinite Scale going under the surface with a head-nodding bit of dub. Finally label heads Echaskech apply their typically robust beats to a heady remix of Left For Dust.

Does it all work?

Yes. Importantly this set of remixes works as an album too, such is the intelligent arrangement of different tempos, textures and beats. All the BUNKR originals are complemented but remain recognisably the work of Dean himself.

Is it recommended?

Very much so. If you liked the original album you’ll find this imaginatively realised remix collection complements it perfectly.

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