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Illbient: Mormo, Nauseous Youth Future, Obfusc

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MORMO: Wasting 500 Sounds (CD on Low Impedance Recordings)

This release from 2006 features 50 minutes of gritty electronic music.

Mormo is Tomasz Kaye.

Bouncy electronics parse with glitchy percussive effects in a sea of textural resonance. The electronics are lively and often frenetic. Harsh pulsations mix with heavenly tones to achieve a tasty balance of razor sharp and velvet sounds. This atmospheric backdrop serves to temper the agitating demeanor of the forefront electronics, subduing the agitation factor maintained by these buzzing sounds. Bubbling diodes provide a cheery edge to the edgy tunes.

The percussion is heavily cybernetic, pursuing an artificiality that is the heart of this music. Erratic tempos generate an unpredictability that runs rampant through the tuneage. Stable rhythms of a sinuous nature conspire with random beats to produce a flow that is engagingly eclectic. There are passages in which the chaos factor dominates the harmonics, plunging things into a surging panorama of electrified commotion. And then the music emerges with renewed vigor, sparkling and revitalized by the embroiled interlude.

These compositions display a meticulous air of emphatic stimulation. While melodies exist and are quite bewitching, the charged miasma that surrounds these central themes flourishes with carefree determination, aspiring to fuse unconventional structure with an pop sentiment flavored by a haunting ambient foundation. Invariably, the flurrying agitation wins out.

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NAUSEOUS YOUTH FUTURE: Dosage (CD on Broken Fader Cartel)

This release from 2006 features 47 minutes of melodic illbience.

Nauseous Youth Future is Bran Flanders.

Glitchy electronics vibrate with severe agitation alongside a bevy of scratchy e-perc rhythms. The notes glisten with synthetic luster, yet the riffs they describe are frequently infused with an endearing humanity peering through the impulsive miasma. The application of truncated samples accentuates the music's frenetic demeanor.

The tempos are insistent and edgy, often frantic as beats crowd each other to achieve a buzzing blur of computerized impacts. Some beats come encased in fuzzy coatings which give them a novel appeal. Other beats are strictly artificial, harsh and intentionally alienating in their mechanical disposition.

Contrasting this nest of seething diodes, heavenly tones provide a grounding presence with their atmospheric resonance. Lacy textures of ethereal substance saturate a tapestry of fevered pulsations.

The compositions are a sinuous blend of strident perturbation and sultry ambience, mixing dreamy sounds with grating beats and achieving a bewitching air of urbane harmonies.

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OBFUSC: Internal Countryside (CD on Boltfish Records)

This release from 2006 features 47 minutes of contemporary electronic music with an illbient edge.

Obfusc is Joseph X. Burke.

A liquid flow drives this sultry music. The electronics vary from dreamy tones to hyperactive sparkles penetrating the pulsating fog. Textures ooze like pensive mists, while glimmering effects litter the cloudy overhang. Chords roll out with crystalline clarity, winding their way through thickets of fuzzy percussives.

The e-perc possesses a snappy edge that bestows a cheeriness on the songs. The rhythms often manifest as glitchy beats that would be agitating if not for the smooth nature displayed by the rest of the sounds.

The overall disposition of this music is peppy, a pleasant dose of urban ambience, lively but not pursuing the dancefloor medium. Melody plays a vital role, which is uncommon in most illbient electronic compositions. Burke strives to balance the gritty, often low voltage demeanor of the genre with a lavish sheen is ultimately very satisfying.

The CD features a video by Jason Bunker.

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