The Green Kingdom is the work of one
Michael Cottone, a Detroit based graphic designer and sound artist.
Cottone’s musical interests exist in creating compositions
which blur the lines between soundscape and structure while keeping
a sharp focus on melody.
The Green Kingdom is an album of warm bass
reverberations which drift off into a sonic-netherland whilst
an impressively arranged tapestry of buoyant electronic matter
and swells of manipulated-acoustic micro-motifs combine to grace
the lush soundscape. The Green Kingdom may be classed by many
as ambient electronica but this is a lazy categorization. Whilst
the aesthetic of ambient electronica is a pivotal theme, there
is far too much electronic trickery and electro-acoustic manipulation
going on beneath the surface. Instead a tag of ‘melodic
minimalist glitch’ would be more befitting. The sound of
The Green Kingdom is best described as being like a companion
piece to a visual image where intermittent shafts of light manage
to shine through to the deep sub-aqua terrain resulting in the
occasional disturbance of sea-life, a phenomenon that brings about
a spurt of subaquatic rustling in which multi-colored fish dance
hypnotically resulting in sea-plants swaying jaggedly and millions
of shimmering grains of sand launching into violent explosions.
The tracks on the album consist of digitally manipulated acoustic
and electronic sources, sampled textures, noise and field recordings.
This can be the formula to a very cold and sterile creation of
sound but Cottone manages to make these sound-creation methods
combine into an album of engrossing dynamics which are vividly
arranged and richly produced.
Starting off with ‘Toy Guitar, Hiss, Anxiety, Etc’
the listener is welcomed immediately into Cottone’s sub-aquatic
domain. Manipulated and overlapped guitar clusters explode forth
out of the plunges of atmospheric bass tones to carve out a soundscape
which is aesthetically similar to Marsen Jules. The instrumentation
forms the melodic crux of the track, alternating between elongated
drones and shimmering melodic flutters which occasionally move
into tightly grouped flamenco melodies. ‘Amniopod’
moves into Ryuichi Sakamoto/Alva Noto territory with its dark
unhinged bass rumblings and serene drone underpinning the free-form
keys which are clustered into glistening East Asian motifs. The
drawn out and decomposed electro-acoustic melodies of ‘Mei-Li’
exist over a sea of warped drone arrangements resulting in an
image of a sunken ship in which (implausibly) a vinyl of a vintage
orchestra continues to rotate backwards in a jagged and frayed
manner. It’s all so tranquil and misty yet so bustling and
intricate which results in a compelling listen that removes you
from the reality of the world outside.
Frostbite and subtle gas storms make themselves
known on the dark and delicate glitchscapes of ‘La Poussière
Et Mémories’ and ‘Broken Moonbeam’ both
of which are engulfed in a cold and blustery audio skree. As the
album progresses it’s like the hostile waters of the North
Atlantic have been crossed and the warmer more hospitable surroundings
of the South Atlantic have been reached. This is revealed by moving
into more melodious territory on the second half of the album,
initially with the acoustic micro motifs of ‘Wind-up Wildlife’
and then the mesmerising angel-dust sprinkles of ‘Miniature
Forest’. The latter track is a perfect accompaniment to
a nature programme showing a tiny sapling turning into a something
far more substantial in a matter of seconds. It showcases a soundscape
where melodies spring to life and become more robust, providing
the central theme to the track. The rhythmic swells of the sumptuous
overlapping acoustics collide with gaseous ejections and micro-scraping
polishes to form a contemporary electronic ode to minimalist master
Terry Riley. The meandering melodies and constantly evolving atmospherics
of ‘Nocturne 2’ can’t help but captivate the
listener whilst the rich harmonic drones of ‘Cherry Sunrise’
meet with fragmented micro-glitches and animated yet angularly
arranged instrumental motifs to exude a Tortoise meets Labradford
type of sound.
The press release rightly notes that “(Cottone’s)
soundworlds encourage introspective explorations and provide an
escape from our sometimes hectic lives. So if you’re ready
to disengage from the world outside into a sub-aquatic dreamland
where subtle electronic skree shoots fluidly across otherworldly
terrain, drones swell and contract effortlessly and manipulated
& glittering electro-acoustic melodies roam free and dance
flame-like in uncharted and carefree formations, then this is
the album to spin. Happy listening! (KS)
For
fans of: Boards of Canada meets The Necks, Marsen Jules, Ryuchi
Sakamoto, Alva Noto, Ryoji Ikeda
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