title:

transparencies e.p.

label:

acrylik

format:

mp3

release date:

cat. no.:

ack010

tracks:

transparencies

cantilever

asakusa

yms-14 b-type

dusty blue

"this ep is the occasion to present to you acrylik, a you french netlabel born just over aa year ago. ten releases, mainly ep’s, in varied enough styles, but which all fall under the genre of ‘electronica’. if you want to get an overall idea of the productions of the label, start with the compilation ‘summertime’, freely downloadable from the site, as are all the other releases. cheju is wil bolton, about whom you may already have heard if you have ever encountered boltfish, another electronica label (that pushes everywhere these days for our greater pleasure), english this time, co-directed by mr bolton in person, and murray fisher (mint, who I also invite you to discover). ‘transparencies’ is the only cheju ep available on acrylic, the others are scattered a little everywhere (boltfish, rednetic recordings, redoes, kahvi etc). you can download it for free, if you so desire. ‘transparencies’, the title piece of this ep, sounds just as the title suggests. the transparency – or opacity – of the sounds embodies the concept perfectly, with blankets of light gauze and spidery scrawl run in lead. an electronic sound universe builds patiently, bringing into play in an uplifting scenography pure frequencies and controlled feedback. And then they encrust themselves little by little, initially one, then other sounds, which are reminiscent of the electronic rave music of the 90’s and which seem to betray their source and to threaten the imaginary frame up to that point. the second piece ‘cantilever’ is however a true success – dry, nervous, aggressive and dreamy all at once, but softened by the sensitive delays throughout the track… however, on ‘asakusa’, the blend of intelligent electronica and elements of less intelligent techno, like ‘advance’ period lfo: low synthetic, analog textures, processed voices, arpeggiator on all floors… nothing misses with the panoply, and yet one believes in it. Soon, with ‘yms-14 b-type’, one asks no more questions. cheju builds his own coherence, beyond the apparent abysses between the styles of electronic music he convences, and the final track ‘dusty blue’ comes to confirm it in beauty, with the slow numerical degradation of the notes of a piano. the sound builds, destroys, and leaves an always new impression: music. …" - cold room, 02.06

"tiens, pour une fois wil bolton cède à l'appel d'une electro plus clubby, mais dans le bon sens du terme. notez avec quelle élégance il manie le groove et les beats accrocheurs (le presque trance "asakusa", "yms-14b-type"), plus direct et simple que sur les oeuvres précédentes. simples mais en aucun cas relevant d'un manque d'inspiration : "transparencies" sort du schéma electronica posée voire nonchalante mais s'imprègne paradoxalement d'une mélancolie plus palpable. etrange impression qui fait parfois penser à du displacer ("cantilever") dans cette approche plus fantômatique et "froide" de l'electronica et d'un trip-hop hybride. l'ambient plus dépouillée de "dusty blue" achève cet excellent ep en beauté, comme un appel vers un ailleurs que l'on pourrait presque croire accessible en n'importe quelle circonstances. décidément, l'anglais surprend à chaque nouvelle sortie, "transparencies" étant la neuvième et dernière pour 2005 !" - guts of darkness, 09.06