Experimental
electronica is a sub-genre that seasoned listeners are inclined
to be wary of as it tends to be the product of those who are too
amateur to arrange melodic electronica instead of those who have
surpassed the constraints of tangible melodies and who are ready
to really experiment with electronic sound. One can safely say
that after listening to the first two minutes of ‘Gaseous
Opal Orbs’, chin-stroking electronica purists can rejoice
in peace thanks to the talent-exuding sounds of Robbie Martin
aka ‘Fluorescent Grey’. To be honest though, the signs
where there. Not only is Robbie Martin a veteran electronic music
performer and producer in underground circles but he first released
'Fluorescent Grey' on the initial home of Venetian Snares (Isolate
Records) and his label, 'Record Label Records' soon will be releasing
works by luminaries such as Scorn.
‘Gaseous Opal Orbs’ is the
latest release from experimental electronica artist ‘Fluorescent
Grey’. Following on from 2006’s crazily named ‘Lying
on the Floor Mingling with God in a Tijuana Motel Room Next Door
to a Veterinary Supply Store’ Robbie Martin moves away from
dense, otherworldly sound collages and epic soundscapes of his
debut into more eerie and leftfield territories. The overarching
sound on ‘Gaseous Opal Orbs’ is one of subtlety and
denseness. Don’t get it twisted though, this is not ambient
music, instead it is a sound which consists of dark ambient soundscapes
over which ultra-tight clustered glitches and micro-beats flutter
in a turbulent but subtle manner, like an army of insects scurrying
in the space-dirt. It is this subtleness and degree of restraint
which makes ‘Gaseous Opal Orbs’ such a classy proposition,
elevating it to the uppermost ranks of experimental electronica.
That being said, variation is the key!
It doesn’t matter how well crafted and how expertly arranged
electronica is, if it’s incessantly constant in its delivery
throughout the album it will eventually bore the listener. It
seems that Robbie Martin’s deep knowledge of, not just electronica,
but music as a whole has really paid off since ‘Gaseous
Opal Orbs’ is a diverse and multi-dimensional offering,
showcasing excursions into dark ambience, afro-beat, dub-tech,
glitch, Celtic folktronica and cut’n’paste. Take ‘Ayhuascaro
Empyreal’ as an example, with its afro-percussive exercise
in Jungle-dynamics. It’s like walking into a tropical rainforest
to find a local tribe playing their instruments, only to discover
one of the musicians is on a Mac Pro linked to a HD Pro Tools
set-up! On the murky dark-ambient glitchscapes of ‘Teleological
Attractor’ the low-level frequencies force the listener
into a state of heightened attentiveness, forcing one to lock
into the sound. Before becoming unnervingly boisterous, warping,
buzzing and fizzing sounds twitch delicately on the outskirts
of restrained bass rumblings, all of which exist harmoniously
in a distant Space Odyssey-esque dimension. Interestingly the
sounds on this track where derived from the time expansion and
compression of pure sine wave tones and white noise with the time-stretching
sounds using above 44.1 kHz stretch rates thus leading to the
creation of unusual harmonic artifacts.
Refreshingly,'Palette
Swap Dub’ explores an interesting dub-tech vibe. Similar
in vein to the hypno-dub of the Chain Reaction gang, the track
hinges around constantly varying plateaus of dubby bass. What
is exciting is that a more full bodied form of electronica is
embraced instead of the more skeletal melodies one typically associates
with the dub-tech subgenre, resulting in a Pole versus Autechre
via King Tubby sound that will have you skanking about your room.
All the sounds on this track were generated using digital physical
modeling synthesis with no actual recordings or samples used at
all. The dub theme continues, although more abstractly on the
initially Aube-esque ‘Physically Modelled Theme For Children’.
With its mix of live instrument samples, industrial scrapings,
off-kilter electronic effects, dark mischievous bass and occasional
vocal snippets, it has all the live-sounding bounce and warmth
of Jazz, with the stirring and complex arrangements to match.
Fascinatingly, it does remind one vividly of the immense Sukia
v DJ Food track ‘Feel’n You & Me’, apart
from the crazy drill’n’bass which the Sukia track
explodes into.
‘Celtic K-hole’ is an audacious
experiment in Celtic folktronica which reminds one of the playful
heyday of Coldcut and his record deck cut’n’paste
mayhem. It is easily a track that could have fallen apart in lesser
hands but Martin escapes unscathed. On the closing track, ‘Are
You Aware of the Pink Light Emanating From Your Naval?’,
Martin goes all out to leave a lasting impression on the listener.
The lengthy piece consists of glitchy electronics that clatter
hurriedly along a soothing yet slightly unhinged ambient terrain
providing an excellent contrast of sounds. Tune-wise, it can only
be described as sounding like playing a retro phaser space war
video game on a massive screen in a pitch black room whilst experiencing
mega frequent fast-forwarding time warps. Hallucinogenic! but
it comes as no surprise that the track was constructed through
sounds derived from a reverse-engineered Super Nintendo sound
chip.
‘Gaseous Opal Orbs’ proves
to be a masterclass in experimental electronica. Wildly experimental
in its construction, it carves an off-kilter yet hypnotically
melodic soundscape which never sounds abrasive, unbalanced or
directionless. Experimental music is about researching and trying
out new sounds/arrangements but the results of these audio-experiments
don’t always translate to success. ‘Gaseous Opal Orbs’
is one audio-experiment that has been highly successful. (RM)
For
fans of: Autechre, Aphex Twin, Amon Tobin, Lustmord, Dead Voices
On Air, Mika Vanio
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