“Submission 01 is a good compilation and a faithful reflection of the styles which nest within the label DiN”
1 Earthbound (Ian Boddy) 9:35 2 Summer Lawn Daze (Ian Boddy) 6:19 3 Out There (Ian Boddy) 9:18 4 Syntax (Dub Atomica) 6:42 5 Integral (Ian Boddy & Bernhard Wöstheinrich) 7:05 6 Mode 5 (Ian Boddy & Markus Reuter) 7:06 7 Rise (Arc) 10:58 8 The Bridge and the Mother (Markus Reuter & Zero Ohms) 10:08 9 Metaphore (Memory Geist) 8:13
(Ambient Berlin School Neo)
Din label is the crossroads of experimental contemporary EM. Ian Boddy's label covers all spheres of EM, starting from ambient to somber techno while passing by Berlin School and purely experimental music. Faithful to the evolution of the alternating currents such as Internet, download platforms and social networks, Ian Boddy launched DinDDL as a supplement to his label in 2007 with the album The Final Question. As some of the following albums, it was the fruit of a concert given this time onto the waves of an American radio. As its older brother, DinDDL presents a compilation of its first 9 albums on this 10th edition. SUBMISSION 01 features so live performances and some studio works of Ian Boddy and his collaborations as well as cult bands from this label which redefines the bases of the contemporary EM.
Beautiful and sensitive, Earthbound, from The Final Question, opens this compilation with all the delicacy of its morphic envelope. Long synth coats become entangled in a very beautiful oniric and cosmic ballet, such as waves rolling on the surface of Orion. That is a charm to hear these rangy synth lines get aroused in this slow spatial cruise where hollow tones resound in an oblivion flavoured of suave fluty breezes and tender suspended harmonies. As much intriguing with its domestic as landscapes samplings, Summer Lawn Daze (from the Three Dreams album) lies with an ambient solitude where misled piano notes roam among panoply of ambiance noises and atmospheres. After a gloomy intro, whipped by cold and lugubrious winds as well as by strange ghostly lamentations, Out There (The Mechanics of a Thought) emerges out of limbs with a great sequence of which chords alternate in a wonderful rhythmic cohesion. This sequential movement, which espouses movements of train criss-crossing mountainous valleys, accompanies a structure fed by tones as colourful as coloured with subtle variances in its setting. Shouldering the universe of Arc, Ian Boddy displays a treasure of sound imagination to support a sequential movement of a minimalist appearance but of which subtle variations add a depth and a heat in this universe of sound iridescences. Syntax, from Dub Atomica’s same album, leads us towards more deepened musical territories with a rhythm being situated between groovy and free jazz, harpooned by a beautiful percussions play and decorated with great sound effects. Percussions which structure a jerky rhythm covered by a synth to gleaming layers and impulsions which sound as guitar solos. More fluid and more musical, Integral (out of the Hemispheres album) is a wonderful futuristic melody which lays on hybrid tones fine percussions, twinkling arpeggios and tearful synth/guitar which wraps this avant-gardist melody. It’s a great track rich in tone, musicality and emotion which flows like an iridescent lament made for rejected souls. Very good!
Mode 5, from the Unwound album, plunges us into the somber spheres of a black ambient music. Floating and torn by breaths and spheres of influence of a synth which crystal iridescences howl in gaps, Mode 5 course is besieged by metallic percussions, a panoply of ghostly winds and scattered notes of a guitar which also filters lugubrious lamentations. We are in a black and dark territory that Rise, from Arc, awakens of its heavy and dark rhythm, worth of great Berlin School moments. Markus Reuter & Zero Ohms' The Bridge and the Mother is a little in the same vein as Mode 5. The use of samplings plays a dominating role with the rustles of leaves which adds an intriguing dimension to this track which floats on slow synth and guitar strata, bringing us unmistakably at the door of Robert Fripp and his Frippertronics. Melodious, dark and enchanting, Memory Geist’s Metaphore encloses gallantly this compilation of dark and experimental music which is the privilege of the label DiN. SUBMISSION 01 is a good compilation and a faithful reflection of the styles which nest within the label DiN. As for me, it’s the best way to tame this eclectic musical universe in where is hiding at least one element, maybe more, that sharpens our ears fond of tones and of electronic delights. There are true values, I think in particular of Ian Boddy, Arc and Memory Geist works and other pearls of an audacious music and without borders which will know how to prick your curiosity.
Sylvain Lupari (October 26th, 2011) ***½**
Available at Din DDL Bandcamp