Autonomech - 1/0

[kazuku]

Album- 1/0

Label: Zenon Records http://www.zenonrecords.com/

Release: 1/10

 

http://www.beatspace.com/dettagli/dettaglio.asp?id=5438

 

http://www.myspace.com/autonomechzenon

 

1. input

2. breathe in

3. micro

4. the boney labyrinth

5. 1/0

6. mucosal wave

7. macro

8. breathe out

9. output

 

The first thing that caught my eye when I opened the package was the artwort, very much in the usual minalmilistic Zenon style, but this time with a bit of a doom-techy kind of touch, skulls amongst fossils and smooth rock. The ascending skulls seem to represent evolution, the largest and final skull having an x-box like power button at the "third eye" - impressive and stylistically sound art, a gem ammongst many dodgy covers in the endless jungle of stereotypical fractal explosions and colour bursts. Propably my favourite Zenon cover so far.

 

1/0 is the first full length album by Zeb Richardson from Australia, who has been previously heard on various compilations on Zenon Records, such as V.A. Sea of Vapours http://www.beatspace.com/dettagli/dettaglio.asp?id=4372 and V.A. Permutations Vol.2 http://www.beatspace.com/dettagli/dettaglio.asp?id=4996 as well as some older releases.

 

In 2008 the Autonomech EP Cryptic Witch Bliss was released, already giving us a first taste what to expect stylistically for the future with 3 intersting tracks that I only discoverd recently and that were the catalyst for me to order this album, especially "Forest" remains memorable.

https://www.beatport.com/de-DE/html/content/home/detail/1/beatport#app=767f&a486-index=3

 

Autonmech´s sound fits smoothly into the Zenon catalogue, being deep, dark and minimal while also diving into unexplored areas and drawing on experimental ideas and musical inspirations from outside of the traditional "psygressive" field. This development of Zenon pushing musical boundries is not new, past releases like last years V.A. Small Talk already demonstrated the labels intention of enlaging their sound spectrum to include influences from other forms of electronica. If you look at the tracklist you can see that it is built up in a very intelligent way - "As above so below" is the principle here as we have a mirroring of the tracks (apart from tracks 4 and 6, although it can be argued that the poles we are looking at here are inorganic - organic or dead/alive perhaps. Interpretations please

 

Input

 

The album begins in a Autonmech typical way, with patient progressive build up - Spacey, luke-warm pads and psychedlic creaks engulf us as we are off on a journey where every sound is made to count. The psychedlia in this track is everpresent, but in a gentle and sublte way - the sparing use of fx and intricate, sharp percussions is instantly mesmerising. Freaky and original slip in and suprises, giving the track a funky feel in its minamilism, d n b and dubstep elements seemlessly melt into the mix, rounding of an experimental voyage.

 

Breathe In

 

We continue the ride in a minimalistic, experimental manner spiced with the same inherent funk and the short, glitchy Zenon style vocal samples we know from artists like Sensient and One Tasty Morsel. Organic and inorganic atmospheres emerge as stylistic boundries evaporate once again, dub-step elements and unorthodox beat patterns melt into a strange, yet intriguing piece of music that defies definition, but manages to create the deep atmospheres that flow through Zenon releases consistently.

 

Micro

 

The wierd mechano electro funk ala Autonomech continues with Micro. Electro-glitch-funk flows through light and dark atmospheres, the beat patterns remain playful throughout, manipulating the vibe and direction of the track here and there while still calling on an inherent mesmerism equal to that of a Mexican spiral eyed staring frog. This time the track is also saturated in a rich and mysterious, almost choire like pads that emerge and underline the duality of the soundscape - bone dry skeletor funk on one side - organic trickles and piercing arrows of celestial bliss on the other.

 

The Boney Labyrinth

 

The Boney Labyrinth builds an extremly rich, eerie ambience in the first section of the track before it takes us on a ride which hits us with more traditional consistent psygressive beats to begin with.The skeletal, boney imagery which is present in the artwork is succesfully transported into a sonic form with the creepy fx play. The darkness is interlaced with quirky glitcyness as we move into some of the more weird, funky sections of this labyrinth where norms and expectations are shattered once again. I found the twists and turns this takes and mental imagery it conjures up very psychedlic, creeping into the mind with an intense subtelty reminsecent of eerie, vivid ambient pieces at times. One of my favourites so far.

 

1/0

 

1/0 - Input/Ouput, the middle track and conceptual balancing track of the album errupts with driving psygressive beats and the intricate percussional groove that has entranced us throughout the album. The groove this time round is less prone to morphing but atmospheriacally we are still in very much in a skeletal, boney zone, rolling along consistantly at 138 BPM, which is a notable change to the 134-135 territory we have been moving in untill now. A strange, somewhat corny video game esque melody emerges and stays with us as the tune progresses - I can see opinions diverging on this component as it does add a wierd dimension to the ambience. I have decided tolike it, because upon listening to it several times it seemed to fit in more and more. Serves as a very good example for the freaky elements Zeb introduces to his music that make it unique - like a funky, dancing skeletor-mech

 

Mucosal Wave

 

This imediatly had me grooving along - a very techy psygressive groove, tribal rhythms and subtle psychedlic elements. Organic pig gurgling gently traumatises us as we move through a wide spectrum of emotion, break beat passages and traditional progressive/tech trance elements merge. Again we have a masterful display of using elements sparingly and wisely - the springy, bing-boingy underlying quality of the track is imprinted with minimalistic but efficient means. Another favourite of mine!

 

Macro

 

Another less experimental effort, increasingly driving progressive beats, tribal-techy mayham is on the program here. Very rich sounscape, organic fx and developing melodies. Atmosphere wise we seem to find an exit to the boney labyrinth as the song progresses with lighter, more aetherial elements -we seem to see a light at the end of the tunnel, somewhere beyond the squelching and blurping of the underworld. Amazingly deep atmospheres.

 

Breathe Out

 

The lighter, celestial elements stay with us as we move back into more experimental territories again. Dub steppish vibration blend with intricate tribal rhythm play, break beats and soothing melodic pads. In the final passages we find almost none of the skeletal squelching, burping and blurping that has lined our path, the calls of the underworld have subsided here- we have reached a distinctly mellow and warm phase of our trip, we exhale and relax.

 

Output

 

We close in an experimental manner as the tempo is reduced and we move through dreamy, mellow environments at 130 BPM, accompanied by breaks, melodies and wierd samples from a wide range of sources and musical directions. Lovers of experimental music that it is impossible to define and pin down will have alot of fun with this. As I mentioned earlier, lovers of ambient music should also have a listen at some of the tracks because of the atmospheric density and shifting emotions.

 

Conclusion

 

Autonomech is defintetly one of the most original and experimental artists on the Zenon roster, he manages to create an intersting blend between driving psygressive and a wide spectrum of electronica including break beats and dub. It is also a very emotional album imo, oozing with atmospheres, feeling and subtle psychedelic playfulness and achieves the Zenon typical depth and hypnotism.

If you have listened to recent Zenon releases you will have noticed an increased love for experimental sound, and imo this album is a perfect manifestation of the desire to blend the dark and deep psygressive elements with the rest of electronica, creating something smooth and futuristic piece of art. If you want something fresh that moves far out of the boundries of traditional prog trance, this is highly recommended.

 

BPM range is 130 - 138 with most tracks in between 134 and 136.

 

Favs.

 

1, 4, 5, 6

 

I didnt find a single boring or uninteresting track here. Nice one

This will sit in my car cd player for a long time, smooth music for long drives!

[kathmandu]

I/O track

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy-ChQOjwX8

[Sawfly]

Good album

[Drew05]

i was impressed with the sound design and overall tone of the tracks, but the content didn't engage me as much as other zenon releases. hopefully Autonomech will improve on this and i look forward to hearing what he does next