textura

Albums
Aardvarck
Vieo Abiungo
Celer
Concern
Enrico Coniglio
Copy
Corrugated Tunnel
Dalot
Darkstar
Gareth Dickson
Directorsound
Dryft
Eskmo
Lugano Fell
Benjamin Finger
Fond of Tigers
Gel-Sol
Giardini di Mirò
Gibson & Rose
Gareth Hardwick
Haruki
Marc Houle
I'm Not A Gun
Rafael Anton Irisarri
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Minamo and English
Yann Novak
okamotonoriaki
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Petrolio
Benoit Pioulard
Hein Schoer
Seaworthy and Rösner
Sketches For Albinos
Slow Dancing Society
Solo Andata
System
Antonio Trinchera
Walkner.Moestl
Zazie V. E. Anderen Stern

Compilations / Mixes
Bacterium
Lost Tribe Sound: One
Ninja Tune XX

EPs
Aufgang
Bogdan
Ibex
Jacksonville
Komet
Minus
Morning Factory
Novak + Manning
rANdOMoiDz / NoseTek
Sozonov
SQware
:take

Dalot: Loop Over Latitudes
n5MD

If Loop Over Latitudes at times sounds similar to Maria Papadomanolaki's previous Dalot recording, the EP Flight Sessions, that's probably because three of the latter's tracks re-appear on the new release. That detail notwithstanding, the Grecian-born musician's debut outing for n5MD sounds very much like a significant artistic advance on its predecessor. Whereas the EP impressed as a strong effort, Loop Over Latitudes registers as a more refined and mature collection. Papadomanolaki brings an assured hand to the album's eight settings, whether they're electro-acoustic sound collages or beat-based experiments. Working with field recordings (sirens, bird chirps), voice, guitar, glockenspiel, tablas, and electronic elements, she creates multi-layered set-pieces that often change character multiple times during a single track; note, for example, the manner by which “Story of a City” morphs from a blurry drone into a tumultuous beehive swarm of guitars, beats, strings, and, at track's end, tablas. “Time to Be (Out of Time)” likewise begins placidly with the twang of electric guitar shadings but eventually grows into a towering slab of epic electronica powered by lashing beats. Even the brooding opener, “Solitary, Vacant,” sheds its downtrodden character by offsetting grainy washes and swirls with the delicate pluck of an acoustic guitar and angelic vocal swells. The Dalot sound also evades easy capture: whereas some tracks contain moments of pristine purity reminiscent of a Stars of the Lid piece (“Infinite Window”) and some rise to a level of aggression one more associates with noise artists (“View From a Hill”), others roar with the ghostly, widescreen intensity of shoegaze (“When”). Genre-defying Loop Over Latitudes may be, but it's also compelling enough to hold one's attention for the bulk of its forty-five-minute run.

October 2010