“MiX OnE is an excellent way to discover the know-how of the artists of this label as well as the work of mixing and mastering of Ian Boddy”
1 Dusk is the Musk (N. Mullaney) 7:21
2 Memento (M. Reuter & I. Boddy) 6:06
3 Colony (E. Wøllo & I. Boddy) 3:56
4 B2 Gigacosm (Surface 10) 6:18
5 Church (ARC) 9:37
6 Prague #1 (I. Boddy) 8:27
7 Opera (d'Voxx) 5:04
8 Round #2 (Benge) 5:47
9 Un coq à Esculape (L. Bauchet) 5:37
10 Shade (Parallel Worlds) 5:39
11 The Ascent (Scanner) 6:41
12 Coriolis (I. Boddy & C. Carter) 8:55
13 Edge of Nowhere (R. Rich & I. Boddy) 5:31
14 Raven King (D. Bessell) 6:30
15 Shinkansen East (Node) 8:34
16 Bardo Waves (Bluetech) 6:26
17 Oculus (E.Wøllo & B. Wöstheinrich) 7:36
18 Boddy Love (Ian Boddy) 5:46
19 DiN MiX OnE Continuous Version 2:00:00
(DDL 120:00) (V.F.)
(Progressive EM, Electronica, Psybient, Berlin School)
I've been talking to you about Ian Boddy and his label DiN for quite a long time! You have no more excuses now.
In a vast collection starting around 2000, Ian dived into the vast catalog of his label, which includes more or less 85 albums, in order to weave 2 hours of a continuous EM where borders have no limits. As you read this review, you will notice headlines in blue. These are links allowing you to read the review I wrote about the album which contains the title. I made discoveries, like many of you will make, among the 18 tracks which cement the 2 hours of an Electronica marinated in all kinds of music and where the art of the analog and modular synthesizer is at its highest level. We even entitled to a bonus track that will be on Ian's next album. So, happy reading and I sincerely wish that you will download this album, still offered for free or at name your price… An invaluable gift that the artists of the English label offer you.
It starts slowly with Dusk is the Musk which opens 31 Days from Nigel Mullaney who made a huge comeback in 2020. This track begins to throb with a mesh of eclectic tones, say the sound of clickers, goump goump, those bass pulses making by rappers' throats, and electronic percussions. This dislocated skeleton rhythm is covered by dense orchestral arrangements and ends with a beautiful piano. Then comes Memento and its very King Crimson guitar in electronica vibes from the album Memento which brings together Markus Reuter & Ian Boddy. A great album, and the title fits well with Dusk is the Musk. The door is open for me to tell you about Ian Boddy's mixing work on MiX OnE. The famous English musician achieves a tour de force by attaching titles that complement each other well, as with the Index series. We really have the impression that this is a collective of artists, and their styles always intricately linked, who made a huge jam to make this album. The short Colony from the Meridian album does very well between Memento and B2 Gigacosm of Surface 10, a track that I hear for the first time. Its envelope is woven in mystery with steps that walk on the ceiling in a surreal atmosphere. The percussions sparkle with white noise, seeking the ideal texture to support a music which rocks between ambient and Lucia Hwong. Let's say that the ambiences of B2 Gigacosm compete quite well with those of Church by ARC. Always Babylonish in its depth, it's a pure, creative and dark Berlin School. Ian Boddy choses Prague # 1, from his recent album Modulations, to answer to Church.
We are reaching the most progressive, avant-gardist part of MiX OnE. The art of analog and modular synth music! Splendide is d'Voxx's debut album, whose Opera excerpt is the track that I liked the most in Autograph. Round # 2 from Benge comes to us from Tone Science Module No.3 Cosines and Tangents. Light as wings flying in an industrial wind, it has its place here! Are you looking for the closest point to abstract music on DiN? Lyonel Bauchet was a big crush in 2011. Ian Boddy choses instead a very avant-gardist extract from the album Tone Science: Module No. 1 Structure and Forces to present all of his gift. Parallel Worlds' Shade dates back as far as 2009 with the Shade album. The music hasn't aged that much when compared to Un coq à Esculape and the album An Ascent by Scanner. It's a nice lunar melody flowing through a melancholic electric piano and a harmless line of rubbery percussions. I talked about Scanner's great album in July of this year. And the title The Ascent is still as beautiful as in July and does very well near the neurotic Coriolis that Ian Boddy and Chris Carter composed back in 2000 with the album Caged. The music is also daring and remains very contemporary, testifying of DiN's avant-gardism. It's a very catchy track which deserves that I find the album… all sold out since! However, it can be found in HQ downloadable format on the Bandcamp site of DiN.
This is the first time that I also hear Ian Boddy with Robert Rich. And I like these spectral lamentations on stormy percussions and nervous percussive effects. Let's say that the styles of the two artists, Robert Rich being more ambient-tribal, complement each other wonderfully and make a remarkable link between Coriolis and Raven King by Dave Bessell. This title rebounds with another dimension in this collective that is MiX OnE, flirting more with electronica than the dark-psybient ambiences of Reality Engine. Its finale which flows into an excerpt from Node 2, Shinkansen East, lends itself very well to the evolution of this superb title. A big heavy and dark England School! Bardo Waves comes from the Liquid Geometries' album from Bluetech and bypasses the dark atmospheres of the latest tracks to offer a smoother EM and powered by modular synth. Moreover, Evan Bartholomew, the man behind the Bluetech project, is a bit like Ian Boddy on the North American continent with his involvement in Beyond the Sky. Like DiN, this label produces various albums created from modular and analog synths. One of his artists, Johnny Woods, made a stunning album in Pavilions, released in mid-September this year. What can we say about Oculus, except that it is an excellent avant-gardist electronica track from the duo E. Wøllo & B. Wöstheinrich that we find on the Weltenuhr album. The treat of this album is on track 18, more precisely with Body Love which is due to appear on Ian's next album. It's very good Berlin School that soaks in this envelope of sonic strangeness which is the sign of the very innovative universe of Ian Boddy and of his DiN label.
Here's! You have no more excuses. MiX OnE and its 2 hours of continuous music is offered in the category, pay what you want. You can pick up this tedious compilation for the ridiculously low price of $ 0. You can give more, it depends. It's an excellent way to discover the know-how of the artists of this label as well as the work of mixing and mastering of the English musician. Take this album and you will discover a world as enchanting as that of Disney, but for the ears. Well done Ian for this excellent compilation 😊
Sylvain Lupari (September 09th, 2020) *****
Available at DiN Bandcamp