The band's second full-length record, and the first featuring new core member Erin Anderson in place of the departed Brodie Budd, Cumulus found Sean O'Neal and company deciding to aim farther beyond simply trying for Stereolab equivalency exams. If anything, it's a partial look ahead to Flowchart's half-serious, half-silly incarnation as Flowtron, at least if the opening groove "Envelopment Continuum" is any indication. Pitched somewhere between a politer New Order and the breathy, echoed touch of Laetitia Sadier and her own influences, it's an alternately sprightly and calmer way to kick off this very enjoyable disc, fading away on vocal and keyboards loops. The hint of My Bloody Valentine Loveless-era and Seefeel drones toward the end is more than a slight giveaway at other sources of inspiration throughout Cumulus. There's not as much in the way of Kevin Shields-styled heavy guitar queasiness, but the same sense of heavy processing and woozy, drowsy vocals crops up more than once. Wisely, nothing is an exact revamp, and O'Neal loves throwing in some surprises. Consider the initial wash of "Another Word Explodes," which suddenly adds in a relentless near-electronic body music drum punch while forcing everything into higher frequencies -- and then starts adding in further drones, muddy string sections, and more. Compared to many similar bands and albums who don't look past the basic sound and style of the originals, Flowchart works because the blend is so far-reaching, as apt to draw from random vocal samples as it is from polite, dreamy synth-pop and more besides. There's organ/massed chorale numbers ("Yosho"), enjoyable sped up-singing, and soaring arrangements over clattering beats ("Rust a la Glare"), and more. About the only thing wrong with the album is that it's not more well-known, because it's a definite cracker. - Ned Raggett, AMG
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Frank Schültge "Blumm" was born in 1968 in Bremen and lives in Berlin now where he is working as a musician and a producer for...
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Release Date: 12/18/2020 I found myself drifting off to the spacey daydreamy melodies and then wondering, “which Boards album is this?—oh yeah…” It’s literally that dead-on....
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Faex Optim is an immigrant from another dimension, beamed in on fairyland constructs made up of colorful light beams and intoxicating aural spirits. On his...
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The mysterious entity known as Faex Optim is a relative newcomer on the scene, his representation made visible by net-only releases courtesy of the U.K.'s...
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Re-press: Limited edition black vinyl LP with download.LP re-press release date: 6/30/2023CD available now.1. La Noche Inventada 2. Nadadora 3. Como Un Aviador 4. En El...
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Release Date: 1/13/2023 Pete Namlook used to coin many of his recordings of electronic impressionism as “new environmental music”, the meanings of which are simultaneously...
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Apophenia finds Faster Circuits' brain-man Derek Almstead working through the murk and mumble of this sad past half-decade with the clarity you’d expect from this...
