Albums
John Luther Adams
Félicia Atkinson
Cardopusher
Matt Christensen
Enrico Coniglio
Coniglio / Under the Snow
Dakota Suite
Deadbeat
Deepchord
Vladislav Delay Quartet
DJ W!LD
Dreissk
Mark E
Marcus Fjellström
Fourcolor
Fovea Hex
Ákos Garai
Kreng
Lerosa
Machinedrum
Mem1 + Stephen Vitiello
Message to Bears
Novi_sad
Rick Reed
Alexander Rishaug
Jannick Schou
Secret Cinema
Seven Saturdays
Sleeps in Oysters
Sound People
Strom Noir
Ryan Teague
thisquietarmy
thisquietarmy + Yellow6
Amon Tobin
Alexander Turnquist
Damian Valles
Vetrix
Simon Whetham
Winterlight
Compilations / Mixes
Brownswood Electr*c 2
Laid Compilation
Prosumer
EPs
David Åhlén
Arkhonia
Bad Sector
Bengalfuel
Wil Bolton
Ed Cooke
Davis / Kleefstras
Detroit: DeepConstructed
d'incise
Final Cut
Gang Colours
Richard A Ingram
Pfirter / Dadub
Nils Quak
Rhythm Baboon
Rumpistol
Mark Templeton
Damian Valles
Josh Varnedore
Mem1 + Stephen Vitiello: Age of Insects
Dragon's Eye Recordings
Listeners familiar with the respective works of Mem1 (the cello-and-electronics-based duo of Mark and Laura Cetilia, whose fourth full-length album, Tetra, recently appeared on their Estuary Ltd. label) and electronic artist Stephen Vitiello (currently on the faculty of Kinetic Imaging at Virginia Commonwealth University) will already have some idea of what to expect from their collaborative effort Age of Insects: highly textured electro-acoustic sound sculpting of the micro-detailed kind. That that turns out to be the case won't diminish the recording for such listeners, as they'd presumably have it no other way.
The recording's seven pieces (all of them titled after extinct insects) grew out of visits the Cetilias made to Vitiello's Richmond, Virginia studio between May 2009 and January 2010 that involved the three improvising and working with analog electronics, field recordings, digital manipulation, and instrument sounds (Laura's cello most notably) to produce the recording's fifty-seven minutes. Sounding as much like deep space transmissions as anything else, “Ektatotricha” immerses the listener within an ultra-detailed universe of insectoid warble, flutter, sputter, and chirp, and so too do the recording's other settings. Smears of grainy sound and gaseous emissions dominate “Protophasma”; “Vosila,” on the other hand, embeds the skeletal creak of Laura's cello within a crackle-infested spectral drone, resulting in an appealing marriage of natural and electronic sonorities that characterizes Mem1's work as a whole. Though the material generally hews to a low level of volume and unfolds with patient deliberation, there's nevertheless an ample amount of activity in play at any given moment moment (never more so than during the long-form closer “Electrinocellia”). Post-production and editing were kept to a minimum so as to preserve the natural interactions that occurred during the trio's sessions together, and the material truly does sound like material being created in the moment, with the individuals involved telepathically engaged in a symbiotic creative endeavour. The recording is available in an edition of 200 copies so fans of Mem1 and Vitiello would be wise to investigate the project sooner than later.
June 2011