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Acouasm // Algo
Label: Algorhythms
Format: Digital
Release Date: 10/02/2014
Running since 2004, it’s fair to say net-label Algorhythms exists at the more experimental end of the electronic music scene. The tenth EP in the series, ‘Acouasm’ crafted by label-owner Algo, occupies itself with a range of freeform experiments in synthesis, resulting in four dark, techno leaning cuts sounding something like the internet did when we still used dialup.
Piercing feedback loops and clattering industrial percussion make up opening track ‘CNX’. Algo’s complex mesh of raw industrial noises are reminiscent of Russell Haswell’s productions, oddball filtered beeps occasionally stabbing through the mix.
The buzzing ‘Thermionic Trigger’ follows, grating throbs of distortion adding a more easily identifiable pulse to Algo’s stumbling drum patterns. Bursts of what sounds like a detuned accordion occasionally enter the jumbled sway, adding a sense of unease, despite the fact this is the only timbre which doesn’t feel completely mechanical.
Third track ‘Isoechoic’ is a notable highlight on the EP, calling to mind Ryoji Ikeda’s methodical, patch based approach to production. Churning industrial textures and printer-processing sounds slowly build up tension across the track’s two and a half minute duration before dissipating suddenly in its closing segment.
Closing the release is ‘Static Propagation’, a crawling, apocalyptic offering brimming with discordant textures and grating, glitch-laced percussion. A booming metallic hit breaks through the swamp of distorted sounds at a steady interval, closing the EP with a sense of impending destruction.
Whilst Algorhythms obviously isn’t aiming itself at any sort of mainstream recognition, it’s still a shame to see the label receiving such little attention given the high calibre of its releases, which to my match the standards of Modal Analysis or PAN.
- Published
- Feb 16, 2014
- Credits
- Words by Theo Darton-Moore