10'02

SUPERSPRITE Color Mixing (ADR043) Audio Dregs 2002 13 Tracks. 52mins19secs. Buy this CD on line now

Is electronica on the verge of loosing its soul? The question could sound rather misplaced in today’s effervescent context, but seems nevertheless perfectly legitimate. In the early days, the movement was split between dance floor and lounge influences, but, unlike the more hardcore club scene, the pioneers of the genres kept in touch with their musical roots by injecting their sonic assemblages with melodies. The likes of Black Dog, B12, LFO and others offered an attractive and accessible interpretation of abstraction. During the nineties, some artists started experimenting with more complex structures, leading them to sometimes forget about what makes their art in the first place: music. While Autechre and consort continue to push the boundaries, at the risk of alienating part of their audience, the last five years have seen a new breed of artists, led by Boards Of Canada, Múm, Isan and To Rococo Rot, returning to the more emotional and human side of electronic music. Based in Portland, Oregon, Supersprite front man Howard Gillam is definitely one of them. Having spent most of his life playing live set with his battery of drum machines, samplers and keyboards, before finally now releasing his first album, Color Mixing, on the highly excellent Audio Dregs label. Produced by label boss E*ROCK with a little hand from the second Audio Dregs head E*VAX, the album is a fascinating collection of vintage electronica, reminiscent of Warp’s seminal Artificial Intelligence series. Using his sampler as his instrument of predilection, Gillam refrains from using pre-recorded elements to focus on sourcing his basic sounds from his arsenal of electronic devices, adding a handful of carefully selected found sounds to reinforce the cohesion of his work. Although the sonic constructions on offer here are in essence abstract, the clever use of simple and effective melodies reinforces the human touch of Gillam’s music. Often adopting a playful approach, he develops poetic little vignettes based around dense atmospheric, emphasising on the evocative power of his soft soundscapes. Dressing his songs in inviting titles (Don’t Spend Time Reflecting On Pins Dropping, Farewell Cosmo, Let’s Form A Puddle), his music is full of anecdotic elements brought together to entice the listener to open up and enjoy the dream-like scenery. Far from being devoid of content, his compositions are rich and ingenious, from the light-hearted Stop Celebrating or Recent Developments to the somber I’ll Get Back To You About That and Theme From “Prism Pies”. With this first album, Howard Gilliam rediscovers the essence of modern electronica by dusting the early inspirations of the genre and putting some interesting sonic constructions together. A very good debut.

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TRACK LISTING 01 I Don’t Spend Time Reflecting  On Pins Dropping 08 Circuilar 02 Gated Buildings 09 Ghosts At The Fireworks Factory 03 Stop Celebrating 10 Sparkling Dynamo 04 Farewell Cosmo 11 Recent Developments 05 I’ll Get Back To You About That 12 Pleasure Model 06 Spraycopter 13 Let’s Form A Puddle 07 Theme from “Prism Pies”

THE SURFER'S GUIDE TO SUPERSPRITE AUDIO DREGS Based in Portland, Oregon, Audio Dregs have been slowly building a very interesting collection of records, releasing artists including E*Vax, E*Rock (both brothers also head the label), Inkblot, The Sensualists or Dim Dim.