title:

obfusc - internal countryside

label:

boltfish recordings

format:

cdr / mp3

release date:

31.08.06

cat. no.:

bolt031

tracks:

jade tree ghost town (cheju's tacit blue mix)

"the brainchild of brooklyn's joseph x. burke, obfusc sounds distinctly worldly in its outlook. 'friends fade in fade out' sees elegant synth melodies aligned to chill-out beats. 'jade tree ghost town' is oriental-flavoured and features sampled voices whilst the fun and fruity 'grand chasms trace the sky' captures burke in playful mode. interestingly, half of the tracks included on this record are actually remixes, which either speaks of a lack of material or indicates the adaptabilty of his own work. the latter argument would appear to be stronger as mint's 'spiral mix' version of 'orthodox contortionist' is an excellent diversion into boards of canada-style mystery and cheju's take on 'jade tree ghost town' ensures that every note is drawn out with haunting results. the closing 'goodbye forever' is another melancholic highlight on another quietly impressive release from boltfish." - leonard's lair, 10.06

"despite the artist's name, there's nothing obfuscatory about this latest collection of fireside electronica from boltfish. created by brooklyn, ny-based joseph x. burke, obfusc's 'internal countryside' is mood music tailor-made to soothe the too-stressed soul. the opener 'friends fade in fade out', a particularly lovely example of warm electronic music, gets a nicely funky boost when crisp breaks join the tune's delicate interplay of acoustic and electronic sounds. understatedly suggesting the far east, 'jade tree ghost town' chimes sweetly while 'grand chasms trace the sky' swings with a rather old-school analog vibe. field elements and found sounds add atmosphere to four originals before burke passes the baton to boltfish associates mint, cheju, and others for a quartet of remixes: mint's 'spiral' treatment cloaks 'orthodox contortionist' in a cloudburst of silken funk, and ova looven deftly merges glimmering ambiance with softly driving pulses in a 'friends fade In fade out' makeover. the disc also includes jason banker's video for 'before we lose our legs' (primarily footage of nocturnal goings-on in new york) which, conveniently, can be previewed at the botlfish site." - textura, 10.06

"i dig this. it's a brooklyn-based idm/electronic/ambient artist with a lot of good ideas and talent. it's on british record label which has a good and clear vision of how to achieve cinematic atmospheric music and how to showcase it to the world (very neat and well designed website, low-cost but creative promotional press-release design, beautiful and modern record covers). think of 'internal countryside' as beat-driven ambient flirting with harmonious idm. nice overlapping of cozy relaxing sound bits with smooth glitch down-tempo soft-tronica. smart programming, heavily influenced by the whole brit thing (the 'other' brit thing, that is). if you like the warm, organic, digitized sounds of warp and of some of their best selling ambient artists, as well as artists rosters of labels such as toytronic or expanding, this cd will feel right at home on your shelf. the album includes four remixes by cheju, mint, ova looven and milieu as well as a video clip by jason banker." - chain dlk, 09.06

"joseph burke has been quietly putting out low-key releases for a while now and getting into it with some remixes. it's great to see him having a whole cd devoted to his chilled out, friendly and unpretentious sound on the excellent boltfish label and he fully deserves the exposure. his sound is deep and melodic and takes its cues from classic electronica whilst giving it his own identifiable sound as well and this piece of work flows so nicely that if you're a fan of purist sounds you'd be very foolish not to get in on the action. it includes remixes from boltfish main men cheju and mint as well as a version from ova looven. essentially this album is great and if you like good music (as opposed to what is currently trendy or being talked about) you'd be well advised to seek this out. recommended." - smallfish, 09.06

"obfusc is actually joseph x. burke from brooklyn, ny. his album is 'internal countryside' is released on boltfish records way over the big pond in england and if you are familiar with boltfish records releases, you can get a good idea about the sounds of obfusc. 'internal countryside' has 9 tracks (the final 4 tracks being remixes) of warm electronica that flows as smoothly as ocean water on a lazy summer day. boltfish says about obfusc 'joseph x. burke….creates shifting, melody-driven music accompanied by nudges of field recording and found sound (late-night televangelists, bcat, police scanner recordings, 1940’s sci-fi radio, voicemail messages, etc.) glued together by layered, tightly-programmed angular beats.' the highlight of the album appears as suddenly as you hit the play button on your cd or ipod. first track 'friends fade in fade out' is nothing short of spectacular. the bass throbs along with synth lines that brings out imagery of a busy night time metropolis ala koyaanisqatsi. there is also a dash of glitch in the background along with beeps that recall nathan fake. layered remarkably well and one of my favorite tracks of this year. 'before we lose our legs' continues the warm flow of electronic sine waves with a faster drumbeat and sound effects which doesn’t compare with 'friends fade in fade out' but sounds compelling enough. the third track 'jade tree ghost town' turns up the distorted effects and crunchy broken beats. a bit of the identity established by the first two tracks starts to get lost, but there are organic toy electronica sounds thrown in towards the middle of the track, in the manner of i am robot and proud, which brightened up the song. 'grand chasms trace the sky' closes out the original tracks with a faster drumbeat and continues the colder feel of the prior track 'jade tree ghost town.' the five remixes that follow have a various range of results, the best being cheju’s remix 'jade tree ghost town.' the heavier and odd timing drum beats does wonders for that track. if you get a chance definitely check out 'friends fade in fade out'…the song is streaming over at his myspace page. album can be purchased at boltfish webpage….link is here. i didn’t realize this until recently, but boltfish is a nonprofit record label and they do quality releases (cheju / loveless!), so check them out as well." - lunapark6, 08.06

"boltfish is a new label for me, but taking a look at their website, it seems that they are quite a busy bunch. they work mainly with musicians of electronic music, and can perhaps, just judging based on this release by obfusc, be seen as another branch dealing with the melancholic side of dance music. a label along side expanding records, highpoint lowlife and ai records, to mention three vital weekly regulars. obfusc is joseph x. burke from brooklyn, new york, who loves police scanner recordings, 1940's sci-fi radio, voicemail messages as found sound to his rhythm driven melodies. sometimes he puts his arpeggio buttons on and the rhythm is more stomping than we would expect, but throughout there is a sense of melancholy in his music. however he sets himself a bit aside of the rest of the mob, in the sense that his music is a bit more rougher in it's edges, perhaps even a bit more analogue than some of his more software driven companions. that makes 'internal countryside' into a pleasant album that is trying to sound different in an overcrowded world and that is of course always a good thing. nice collection that is never too long or never too short." - vital weekly, 08.06

"'internal countryside' is another excellent ep on the ever so lovely boltfish recordings. obfusc is joseph x. burke hailing from ny city in the states (really not that many options on that one are there?). the reason for calling this release an ep allthough there are nine tracks on it in total is the fact that out of the nine tracks, four of them are remixes. mint, cheju, milieu and ova looven all contribute with delightful remixes. in the five tracks obfusc displays an acute sense for both melody and rhythms. a well-balanced mix of percussions set in live mode as well as programmed. the four remixes do obfusc work justice and adds even more variaty to the ep, that the original five tracks were already very capable of creating on their own. this is yet another enjoyable encounter on boltfish." - electronic desert, 08.06