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Vibrant Forms II // Fluxion
Where many have explored the link between meditative dub-techno and ocean-deep ambience, few have managed to create a blend quite as cohesive as Konstantinos Soublis AKA Fluxion. Whether you're listening in a cramped office block, bustling tube full of resentful commuters or a dull-lit supermarket isle, Fluxion has the power to transport you to a place of pure zen.
While his later work has mainly ended up on Kenneth Christiansen's Echocord label, his early productions found their home with Chain Reaction, a successor to the label frontier of Basic Channel. It is here that the two Vibrant Forms albums were first released, compiling tracks from a series of 12"s that would have likely set you back a small fortune. In late 2013 Type Recordings saw fit to reissue the first of these compiled works, and earlier this week we were treated to the reissue of Vibrant Forms II by Barcelona based Subwax BCN. Subwax began their history as a record store in Malmö, relocating to Barcelona in 2013 and evolving into both a label and distribution network along the way. If this weren't enough they also find the time to support a range of sub-labels, including the excellently curated SonuoS, so I should probably take the time to write a very long and sincere thank you letter to them for all the mindblowing music they have brought to my ears over the years (maybe this is it).
As with the first edition of Vibrant Forms, the remarkable thing about Vibrant Forms II is how well it holds together when considered as an LP, despite the fact these tracks were paired together after they'd been released on various EPs and singles. Soublis leaves a vapour trail of recognisable threads from one track to the next. Take the subtle shifts between 'Prospect II' and 'Oblique' for example; warm, intoxicating chords billowing ghostly between clattering drum work. At times, the record submerges into the depths, such as 'Aviation', which plummets into the unknown. The effect calls to mind a submarine silently gliding across the ocean floor, alien creatures floating in and out of sight through the blackness. As an opener to disk two, the track makes a perfect palette cleanser, in preparation for the woozy slow-motion dub of 'Bilateral Motion' or 'Omnibus'.
Over a decade has passed since this material was originally released, yet similarly to fellow Chain Reaction signees Vladislav Delay, Vainqueur or Shinichi Atobe, Soublis' works seem to have barely dated in the last fifteen years, making it unsurprising this re-release marks just one of many from the Chain Reaction catalogue.
Vibrant Forms II is available now from the Subwax BCN webstore.
- Published
- Mar 1, 2016
- Credits
- Words by Theo Darton-Moore