“This is a cinematographic universe where inspirations of Vangelis and Mike Oldfield are the beds of wonderful nomadic melodies”
1 Corredores-Introducción 3:07
2 Mi(s)tico 3:54
3 Destrucción Masiva 6:57
4 Vientos 2:19
5 Leds| 5:38
6 Frost (piano de la base) 7:13
7 Caminata de Tutorial 6:22
8 Células 4:30
9 Below the Clouds Extreme 7:32
10 En Proxies 6:27
11 Corredores-Principal 5:40
(CD 59:46) (V.F.)
(Psybient and melodious dark EM)
After a first album which had fairly seduced me, Noryani comes back with a 2nd album which shows a surprising progression and a musical maturity since Northeast 117 in 2011. Built around a recurring melodious theme which is inspired by Mike Oldfield, by melancholic and futuristic ambiences à la Vangelis as well as by rhythms weaved in the tribal frenzy of ambient mid-tempo and trances; SOUTHEAST 225 takes our ears by front with a delicious cocktail, sometimes explosive and sometimes meditative, which amazes as soon as we drink it. Adrian Noryani takes a jealous care of well elaborating his 11 compositions by some rich moods and diversified rhythms which are constantly evolving, lulling melodic structures which surprise from their unsuspected tangents.
Corredores-Introducción introduces us to the 11 phases of this album with an interweaving of dark synth layers which float like a cloud of threatening ether above some nice piano lines. Ambiences of Blade Runner, in particular the hesitant melody, fill our ears with these layers that have metallic textures which entwine with passion in a futuristic pattern. Irregular, the track begins to pulsate with a strong bass line whose one-legged pulsations skip in a musical canvas that can recall the horde of dogs running for their survival in Antartica. Like an introduction, both in terms of rhythms and atmospheres, Noryani hits the mark. Mi(s)tico also borrows the apocalyptic tones of El Greco with layers which sweep the horizons of a threatening gaze. Little by little this toxic cloud disintegrates to make room for a solid rhythm supported by good percussion strikes. If the ambiences are woven in the shadow of Vangelis' dantesque synth patterns, the melodies are structured in the fragile notes of a piano which hesitates between Mike Oldfield and again Vangelis. And on Mi(s)tico, these notes are nervous and skip through a field of percussions with sometimes confusing strikes. Destrucción Masiva is a pretty punchy title. The intro is sculpted in ambiospherical breaths and organic tones which intersect in the reefs of percussion with static metallic elytra. The breaths of a lost world à la Blade Runner pierce our eardrums while the rhythm remains still agonizing in its embryonic stage. But the musicality is rich with rivulets of prism tones whose ripples undulate under the whining of apocalypse synths, while the percussions make their random strikes heard through prismatic stroboscopic filaments. This static broth fattens its uncertainty with heavy hums which quietly ring the awakening of a heavy and hammering rhythm where rebellious choirs enter a hypnotic trance. This is one of the strong moments in SOUTHEAST 225 which deviates towards a sweeter passage with Vientos which is a contemplative cerebral wandering with its black melody molded in tears of a piano daydreaming under a metallic rain. Leds is built on the same mold as Destrucción Masiva with its rich ambient intro whose ocher clouds gradually dissipate under the blows of a chaotic pulse. Riffs are lost in abstract threads and their zootropic contours, leading Leds towards a heavy and jerky technoïd rhythm that pulsates with a rapid hypnotic movement under a harmonious watercolor of layers with sharp filaments. It's a Techno for mutilated zombie which gains confidence in its pace as it progresses, listening to itself more than dancing on it.
For me, Frost (piano de la base) is the jewel of SOUTHEAST 225. The intro is melancholy to perfection and reminds me a little of Guido Negraszus on Dreams of MySPACE Vol. 1: Thanx for the Add with its piano notes ringing in an obscure nostalgia. The resonances which bind each note weave a melody linked by the echo and which winds a long dark corridor where the cymbals are gurgling in tones of silvery felt. The rolling percussions add a funeral touch to this long procession of sadness which gets lost in its meditative madness to embrace a kind of jazz uncertain of its approach, nor of its coming. After a slow intro of tribal atmosphere with choirs humming a funeral ode, Tutorial's Caminata explodes with a lively rhythm. The whole remains very dark with this union of choirs with serious intonations to layers of a dark organ which draw a mephistophelic canvas on a tempo teeming with electronic tom-toms and organic pulsations. Células deploys an intro imbued of suspense with splutters of static crackling which sprinkle a delicate harmonious approach whose ethereal breaths caress a particularly good crossing of percussions and pulsations. These latter pulsate with a static clan rhythm that lines of piano and of ethereal voices bewitch with a spell that spawns up to our ears. Below the Clouds Extreme roots the perception of ambiguity, both in rhythms and atmospheres, which reign all around SOUTHEAST 225. The rhythm is circular and takes shape on a chain of sequenced keys which twirl in a perfect stroboscopic hoops, while from nowhere springs a melody which will extend its tentacles in different forms to charm our ears through resonating drones and a synth with innocent whistles. The melodic emblem of the album resurfaces on En Proxies which dresses its rhythmic structure of a dark and jerky approach. Corredores-Principal concludes with a heavier and more lively approach than the introduction. This heavy rhythm, always arched over a mesh of sequenced percussions and pulsations, supports the harmonies of a piano whose notes flutter in a good harmonic layout and weave a good earworm in an approach soaked in paradoxes.
SOUTHEAST 225 is quite a find from Generator pl. I have rarely heard such a rich and coherent album where the instinctive and hypnotic pounding rhythms are thundering with such indiscipline in a subjugating mesh of percussions and sequences. The melodies have this little thing which seduces by elaborating their richness in contradictory moods, as dark as melancholic. It's a cinematic musical universe, both futuristic and clan, where the inspirations of Vangelis and Mike Oldfield serve as the backbone of splendid nomadic melodies that often spring out of nowhere. Enigmatic and surprisingly musical, SOUTHEAST 225 enriches the spell with each title, inviting the listener to continually push the play button.
Sylvain Lupari (January 27th, 2013) *****
Available at Generator Pl