Articles
2009 Artists' Picks
Lymbyc Systym

Albums
Cory Allen
aus
The Bird Ensemble
Canaille
Catlin & Machinefabriek
Greg Davis
Loren Dent
Dirac
Drafted By Minotaurs
Flica
Sarah Goldfarb & JHK
Gown
John Hollenbeck
Viviane Houle
I/DEX
Akira Kosemura
Andrew McKenna Lee
Le Lendemain
LRAD
Lymbyc Systym
Melorman
Muskox
The Mercury Program
Nikasaya
Northerner
nörz
Noveller / Aidan Baker
Redshape
Marina Rosenfeld
Stripmall Architecture
Sturqen
Wes Willenbring
The Tony Wilson Sextet
Julia Wolfe
Peter Wright
Zelienople

Compilations / Mixes
Blackoperator
Glimpse Four:Twenty 03
Kod.eX
Portland Stories

EPs
Molnbär Av John
Tommi Bass & B.B.S.C.
Julian Beau
Colours-Volume 5
Dalot
Echologist
Simon James French
Geiom & Shortstuff
General Elektriks
Geskia
Ernest Gonzales
Gradient
Jacksonville
Joker
Ann Laplantine
Loko
Machinefabriek
Stefano Pilia
Damian Valles

VA: Blackoperator
Symbolic Interaction

The sixty-eight-minute compilation Blackoperator appears to be a joint project between the Japan-based label Symbolic Interaction and a…fashion brand? Apparently so, although not much more information is available aside from that puzzling detail. Perhaps one is better to see the project as a vehicle for a representative sampling of Symbolic Interaction material by roster artists Rudi Arapahoe, Xeltrei, Vic Mars, Joseph Auer, d_rradio, All Apologies, Anzio Green, and others (some of their tracks previously issued, some not).

There are a few uptempo and extroverted tracks, but most are quieter. “Exp.” offers Joseph Auer's sleek take on Detroit-influenced electronica, while Vic Mars' “Oesol” presents a soothing fusion of atmospheric electronica and trip-hop. Though the twelve fiery minutes of fuzz-toned roar and intricate lead guitar latticework that constitute “Killed By Nature Part.01” and “Killed By Nature Part.02” are credited to Long Lost Rest, the multi-layered electric guitar settings sound virtually identical in style to Kentaro Togawa's The Retail Sectors. Replete with gently swinging breakbeat accompaniment, Oba Masahiro's “Les Trois Coups” gives Satie's serenading piano composition, “ Gymnopédie No.1, ” a glitchy makeover. “Felon” by Dif:use ( Roel and Don Funcken with Cor Bolten) slows the pace with e ight soundscaping minutes of shimmering drift. Other tracks, including the piano-based meditations by David Newlyn and Pawn ( Hideki Umezawa) , are of a softer disposition: Rudi Arapahoe's “Dionysian Birds,” a pretty, nature-based ambient setting of Eno-esque character; Xeltrei's (Erica and Library Tapes' David Wenngren) “Frugal,” a dusty piano-based ambient setting encrusted with nature-based field recordings; and d_rradio's lulling dreamscape “Blue.” Even if they are mystified by the Blackoperator project, label devotees already familiar with the artists' Symbolic Interaction releases will find much to appreciate in the compilation.

January 2010