DELICATE NOISE: Diversion (CD on Lens Records)
This release from 2006 features 51 minutes of sedate techno tunes.
Delicate Noise is Mark Andrushko.
Moody textures flow with dark ambience. Additional electronics provide versatile embellishments steeped in haunting temperament with bass tones throbbing along as a rumbling foundation. Soaring tones cut the air overhead, vibrating the moodiness with warbling punctuation and enhancing the overall spooky aspect of this music. Although entirely synthetic, there is little mechanical feeling to the electronics; they exude an organic quality that explores an emotional state of mind surrounded by shadow and expectation.
The percussion is even and stately, hardly the frenetic staccato one expects in techno music. Crackling edges lend a portentous mien to each beat. In a few instances the pieces step up their velocity, though, and the rhythms are snappy and hypnotic in a serene fashion, providing energetic locomotion.
Andrushko's vocals are hushed and sultry. Sung thusly, the lyrics seem as if they're imparting secrets with each articulated line.
The music displays a constant eeriness, but that disposition is rarely foreboding, instead evoking an introspective anticipation of something wonderful about to be revealed.
J-PUNCH: Level (CD on System Recordings)
This release from 2006 features 46 minutes of commercial house music.
J-Punch is Justin Katz.
Smooth house music with a lush mix of electronics, breaks, bass, and dance percussion. The rhythms are solid and enticing, steady and suitable locomotion for the dreamy house tuneage. Electronic waves cascade with serene disposition, stimulating the listener's groove sense and sending the head weaving to the serpentine melodies. Growling tones fuse with peppy beats, generating an urban temperament tinged with romantic moods that drift in an internally lit fog of mesmerizing fashion. Surging pulsations grip the feet and set everyone dancing. Snappy rhythms conspire with sweeping electronics that twinkle with shiny charm.
Vocals are lightly treated, oozing out with luscious flavor that blends commercial appeal with house sensibilities. There's a distinct Euro seasoning here that evokes dance clubs lining the Riviera coastline. Some tunes feature female vocals that enhance this continental air.
Very commercial stuff, yet still appealing. One can literally hear the disco balls spinning overhead.
TECHNO SQUIRRELS: Om Mani (CD EP on Rave Police Records)
This release from 2006 features 30 minutes of sultry rave music.
Techno Squirrels is: Lisa Eriksson and Ryan Harlin.
Mixing Hindu beats with Western rhythms, this music bridges contrasting cultures, but lands squarely dead center in the spotlight in the Los Angeles dance clubs. The electronics flow with liquid disposition peppered with surging pulsations. Ricocheting riffs thicken until the delight is inescapable.
Lisa's seductive vocals conjure midnight sun qualities with urban demeanor, producing dreamy crooning that is hypnotic and engaging.
This EP features the basic title track, three remixes (by Rene Patrique, Emotiquon, and Robert Jax) and a bonus track that is an icy gem of slippery rave urgency.
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