title:

devil in the detail

label:

interchill

format:

cd / mp3

release date:

28.09.07

cat. no.:

ichill cd 030

tracks:

ergl

"if you’ve caught interchill’s recent releases, you’ll know they’re about as far away from the hammock-n-chillum, shpongle-lite, buddha bar chillout as you can get at the moment. and with this release, they happily move further in the same direction. on the surface, what devil in the detail injects into the downtempo jugular is an element of glitch. faction’s moody, desolate molten suggests this shift, before cheju’s ergl combines glitch and melody into a moreish, ambient-warp-y slice of goodness. nalepa’s blue continues the tone, before ooah’s tremendous tuesday again adds some bigroom electro-house touches and creates something simultaneously funky, fluid, individual and impressive. the rambling flowers of wraith’s aftermathmatics fades into the more-absorbing sounds of good buddha’s party reserve remixd by tipper; the latter is a much more satisfying bit of heavy-set triphop. gaudi comes up with his best track in ages, analogue criteria sitting somewhere wonderful in between coburn and prince. and yes, i mean that. meanwhile vibesquad pull the rug out from underneath kaleidascone’s feet so many times, it’s like watching a hilarious videotaped prank. the most lovable and most surprising track here would probably have to be eat static’s. three ring nebula has all the wonder-capture glitter that their recent album de-classified lacked, so catching it here of all places is as reaffirming as it is delightfully perplexing. the track ebbs and flows effortlessly, like breathing calmly on a spring morning. fantastic, mesmerising stuff. bigeneric’s appolonia is one of the better glitchy tracks; somewhere between dub, ambient and glitch, it stirs up a mood all of its own before coaxing it, messing with the levels and tones as it goes. likewise radiate’s reverse engineering, a veritable feast of micronoises and organic, evolving textures. tripglitch’s orgona motor is interesting but would be better with more trip and less glitch: the message sounds muddled, as though you’re listening through some sort of interstellar signal interference. More absorbing are the closing tracks: chaos by design’s immerse being an up-to-date bit of jazzy café music, while legiac’s ruler sounds like fifty-years-in-the-future photek composing a tribute to a recently-deceased bjork. devil in the detail sets out to wipe clean your conceptions of what downtempo music should be, and in doing so it succeeds. there’s a lot of variety, a lot of new sounds, a lot of balls, and a fair few moments of abject wonder and joy. it might alienate itself from the palates of some downtempo fans, but then this is the point. as such, i recommend it to anyone with an itch for something a bit new, and to anyone with a fetish for musical postmodernity." - psyreviews, 10.07

"another tasty sampler from saltspring island-based dj label interchill. this time, the tuneage is far less dubby than this year's earlier bliminal cd, and leans toward the beat-ier side of down-tempo chill breaks coming from across the globe. from well-knowns such as u.k. dj gaudi to wow-worthy acts such as israel's faction, there is a lot of variety to trip into over the disc's 14 tracks. u.k. dj/designer nick edell has done a fine job compiling the selections, which proves that there is a whole lot of variation and constant creation coming out of what is often quite minimal music" - ultra sound, 10.07

"assembled by uk-based nick edell, interchill records offers up one of the most solid compilations heard in recent memory. true to its word, devil in the detail presents an encompassing potpourri of precision-tooled electronic cuts from music-makers based in us, uk, holland, switzerland, and israel. lovely opening pieces by faction and cheju (“molten,” “ergl”) hint that the collection may concentrate on lushly textured downtempo settings intended for meditative listening but the vibe dramatically shifts towards crunk-hop in the material that follows. there's no looking back once the glitch-laden funk of nalepa's “blue” kicks in. what recommends the release even more than its consistently high quality level is the fact that each piece is filled with tiny surprises and unexpected twists and turns. in place of a lazy over-reliance on repetitive loops, a fabulous cut like ooah's “tuesday again” never stops shedding skin as it slithers through multiple lessons in bleepy bass physics. similarly, vibesquad's “kaleidoscone” rolls across an ever-changing terrain littered with bass throbs, melodicas, synths, and handclaps and namechecks idm, jungle, and hip-hop during its ultra-scenic trip. flowers of wraith chops heads with the marauding snarl of the cobraesque funkateer “aftermathmatics” while good buddha lays out heavy turntable artillery in tipper's dub-funk bulldozer “party reserve.” eat static's “the third nebula” is arguably the most ambitious in its reach. after a breezily atmospheric opening of head-nodding crunch and swizzling voice samples, the tune explodes midway through into a steaming latin cha-cha powered by horns and percussion. instrumental hip-hop is the heart and soul of many devil in the detail tracks but traces of idm, funk, drum'n'bass, and dub sometimes bleed through the cracks too." - textura, 11.07

"specialists in upfront dub experiments, interchill go back to broader electronica this time around from an international field. they still frequent the lo-fi end of the business, with faction’s ‘molten’ getting glitches to graze soothing, breathy surfaces. more twitches and trembles on nalepa’s ‘blue’ gently rock the cradle, stuttering on its merry way and featuring a trace of aphex twin psychosis. cheju’s ‘ergl’ travels in cycles, and its spotted synths produce patterns to slowly put your system on shutdown. a perfect example of a comfortable state being achieved, in spite of the abundance of effervescing niggles. though there is help from beats keeping largely to the straight and narrow. the opening exchanges having settled listeners in, ooah’s ‘tuesday again’ is a well-positioned disturbance. it signals that the rest of the compilation will make you have to earn your relaxation. flowers of wraith’s ‘aftermathmatics’ shreds up a dubstep-based prowl to antagonise the course some more. before you know it, the devil has earned his billing and replaced tranquillity with ominous instincts. vibesquad, radiate and bigeneric continue to rightfully blot the landscape and ensure the serenity has got guts to go, despite the brightened attempts of eat static. it’s also good to hear dave tipper back at the forefront, his remix of good buddha’s ‘party reserve’ full of his trademark jumbo-low bass slings over a rickety dub rhythm. the unrest eventually reverts to a dormant state, with chaos by design’s ‘immerse’ a fine return to ‘intelligent’ drum and bass with goldie’s ‘inner city life’ in mind. a very good set, where comfort rubs shoulders with understated discord. 5/7" - one week to live, 01.08

"perhaps the best thing about the intersection of technology and music is the way it allows stylistic cross-pollination to take place so quickly. frustrating as it may be to try to keep track of the metastasizing profusion of electronica genres and subgenres — quick: compare and contrast the elements of glitchcore and drill'n'bass; oops, too late — if you just relax and let yourself luxuriate in the constant flow of new beat patterns and new musical textures, the kaleidoscopic variety ends up being lots of fun. the interchill label staked out for itself several years ago a little corner in the ambient-downtempo neighborhood, and with this new compilation (put together by british dj and graphic designer nick edell) it's branching out towards a slightly funkier and more energetic sector. some of the artists will be familiar to those who keep a close eye on developments in the electronica world: eat static, faction, and especially the always brilliant gaudi. others are more obscure, but all of them provide tracks that are worth hearing and most are worth repeated listens. the album begins slowly and gently with ambient excursions by faction and cheju, then starts picking up steam with glitchy funk from nalepa, and somewhat more muscular funk from ooah. by the middle of the program hints of jungle are starting to creep in, and things come to a head near the end with chaos by design's propulsive "immerse," after which things cool off just a bit with the more laid-back "ruler" by legiac. highly recommended overall." - allmusic, 01.08

"comps can work but often they can be too scattershot. devil in the detail finds a delicious balance, offering a mix that is eclectic enough to be interesting but not so eclectic as to drive one to distraction. a batch of minimalist, chilled techno tunes unfold into your ears as this album winds its way through a realm of shadow making love to light, melody finding substantial, tenebrous manifestation. a hint of glitch here and there, an overflow of non-aggressive yet room-filling melodies, reserved beats that still mean all the hook in the world and atmosphere that compells one to turn off the body, turn on the mind and float into free spirit for a little while. personality abounds on devil in the details and it's a personality it would behoove you to get to know." - raves.com, 03.08

"this is a record about trimming the edges of electronic music and taking it to an altogether cohesive, and somewhat organic, block. most of the artists featured here seem to dream of static every single night, and evolve from the minutia assembled while between white sheets and fluffy pillows. "devil in the detail" is not an album for indiscriminate consumption by the saturday-night masses as its microscopic foundations only caramelize into chilled-out sculptures, if anything. the opening track, faction’s "molten", makes you skip one heartbeat or two with its sparkling, little cells of noise. often dismissed as pure trash, static is key to the understanding of both this record and an entire chapter of contemporary electronic music. the way it gently flows through the different layers of an existing pattern makes static a layer in its own right. that’s probably why cheju’s "ergl" sounds so tight and narrative-like, even if the overall production is meant to sound detached and at large. the underwater number, good buddha’s "party reserve", as remixed by tipper, is better enjoyed by geeks with big glasses and a laptop under one arm than the common man that plays electronic music just for fun. and there’s absolutely no problem with that, mind you. gaudi succeeds in designing a little call-and-response approach to "analogue criteria", a step fairly seconded by vibesquad and the non-perishable track "kaleidascone". only 15 minutes before the final arguments, the glitch factory finally opens its doors with "orgone motor", executed by tripglitch. "three ring nebula" is also worth-mentioning, not only because it’s done by eat static – and quite honestly, that’s what this is all about –, but also because it sums up the spirit of the entire record, as it wrestles its way to your ear. "devil in the detail" is like a painting, only the canvases are bigger and less intrusive." - properly chilled, 03.08