CD – Mille Plateaux
In the last decade the “clicks and cuts” aesthetic has permeated many areas of music, invading other contexts and influencing even those dance genres that are not “minimalist” in decisive ways. Artists recording on Mille Plateaux don’t seem particularly affected by this “popularization” however: the label is still focused on “glitches”, airy scores and dub-ish and environmental arrangements. Here, each track seems to be able to maintain its own elegant and distinctive character, often imbued with strong melodic accents and auteur sequences. However, still present are many of the themes of a certain hybrid electronic music that is rather in vogue these days in festivals and performances around the globe, a dynamic and responsive style with many rhythmic contaminations. Among the artists in the lineup, most of whom are somewhat young and not yet famous, Aoki Tamakasa, Wyatt Keush of Manathol and Gultskra & Artikler stand out. However, all the tracks here are very calibrated, skillfully mapping evocative textures of restlessness and contemporary disorientation.