Aoki Takamasa – Parabolica [2006; Op.disc]

Slow-change beat patterns, gentle tone mutation, and jabs of static form the majority of this minimal techno album, with clinical song titling (e.g., the back-to-back “Ascari_Wet_Condition” and “AscariDry_Condition”) and the occasional vocal fragment accentuation. Despite the presence of those grunts, gasps, and detached phonemes (blown up to a full and much-repeated verse in “I’m a Part of It”), the music feels too hard-set in its programming to communicate much in the way of a human element, and while the songs pull out some slick grooves, they also feel deeply (and self-consciously) stiff.

The rhythms hardly ever break loose into full fluidity for more than half a minute or so, always leading to an interjected broken beat between bars or a gurgled moment of electronic overload to disrupt the momentum. The programming is far too elaborate for that interference to be unintentional, but even recognizing the artsy dissatisfaction with uncompromised beat cycles, the music seems at odds with itself. The technical skills on display are highly admirable, and taken on a moment-to-moment scale, there’s a lot to savor. But as a larger musical experience, it feels more asymptotic than parabolic, coming close to but never quite reaching a satisfying completion.

Various Artists – X-Rated: The Dark Files [2006; Steamin’ Soundworks]

Pulling together alternate takes, exclusive songs, tracks from (at the time) upcoming albums, and pieces from obscure or rare releases, this compilation roams through a set of experimental electronic music with (as the name implies) an emphasis on dark and/or occult inclinations in their composition and samplings.
There’s also a bit of Coil-related thread running through the
collection, as, in addition to the British group contributing a track
(and the compilation being dedicated in memoriam to one of its
co-founders), a number of the other groups had remixed or been remixed
by Coil, or had other associations with them.

Vocal wailings meshed with staticky sonic flickerings, slow piano over synth dronings, cut-up speech, quiet moans and sub-bass surges, and similar combinations of analog and digital populate the compilation, which goes for slow but large-scale atmospheres often enough to build up a sense of sinister grandiosity. At ~75 minutes all together, it does drag on a bit, but that stretch of time allows the larger songs to sink extensively into their textures without feeling overly compressed or rushed. While it does take a particular sort of mood for the compilation to really click with a listener, it hits its intended flavor mark quite well.

Various Artists – Sampler 06: Quality Electronic Music [2006; Ai Records]

Freeform electronica fills this compilation, bringing together previously issued tracks with exclusive ones, and joining members of the Ai Records stable with artists who never released on it outside of this sampler. IDM, chillout, downbeat, house, dub, and more are stirred together within and across the tracks, and though none of the contributors are particularly well-known (Plant43 and Datassette being the biggest names of the lot), they all serve up their piece with high style, careful production, and a striking sense of character.

Slowed beats, squelched synths, delicate undertextures, and drifting light drones are regular components of the songs, with multiple rhythmic layerings offered up in forms allowing for enjoyment of their entanglement or individual merits. Some recurrent qualities across the eight tracks isn’t enough to drag it down by a significant extent, and the continuity over their course has enough twists thrown in to keep things interesting. A little uneven, but still a strong showing from everyone involved.

LOLI RIPE – Ecce Pedo [2006; self-released]

With the eighteen tracks of this album (only five of which run over two minutes long), LOLI RIPE churns out a manic mix of breaks, noise, heavily altered pop samples, and signal degradation, zipping through pounding percussive loops while higher-register incidents flicker past in swift rotation, on into fine-ground audio disintegration, drill-beats, and other uneasy listening. Most of the time, the adapted samples are too obscured by their filtering and other treatments to recognize what the joke is, but the track titles spot them out, with names like “I Fucked Up ;_;“, “I Want You To Relax Your Anus“, and “Haha! Butts :)“ giving more identifiable character to the album than the disparate nature of the songs themselves.

When focused on just diving into the noise, the album leans into some surprisingly nuanced sounds, but the broad majority of it seems to try to keep from taking itself too seriously, by way of anime samples, blasts of static, and obnoxious techno-mocking excess. Alternately frantic and drudgy, it ends up being one of the lower points in LOLI RIPE’s catalog due to bloat, more than anything else.

Blue Vitriol – The Bad Sleep Well [2006; self-released]

In the four tracks of this EP, Blue Vitriol put their usual chiptune dub style to work with some tunes that, while chill on the surface, move some heavy bass about in their depths. Solid grooves and burbling synths come together in a tasty blend, and with one fast-moving piece (”Buried Alive Dub”), the group packs enough variety into the EP to keep it from falling into predictability.