Jimmy Svensson
Dangerous Liaisons
self-released
Swedish artist Jimmy Svensson has done a lot of different things musically over the years, from industrial drones as Yabibo Hazurfa, to the hardest minimal EBM in his Nuclear Sludge guise, to several recent ambient releases under his own name. Liaisons Dangereuses is a short EP of music Svensson originally composed for use in a documentary, and reveals yet another aspect of his muse; namely that of composer, albeit staying with the electronic toolset that has defined his catalogue thus far. As you might expect there’s plenty of the alternately frosty and slowly burning textures that his dark ambient excursions have relied on at play on some tracks, although they’re arranged around evolving sequences and evocative pads, as on “Cold Eyes”, a pure delivery of the EP’s Scandinavian Noir remit. There’s also some Vangelis-esque brassy leads in the mix, a sound that he carefully applies to keep from digging into synthwave territory; on the title song it evokes mystery thanks to the cloudy drones it darts between. In a particularly evocative moment “Sinister Revelation” indistinct bassy washes and hypnotic bells keep the listener’s focus while metallic percussion slowly groes in intensity, eventually resolving in a loud clang that you only see coming in the song’s final moments. It’s a brief but lovely collection of short pieces from an artist who impresses us regardless of what sounds he’s currently engaging with.
Fro
A Theme In Grain
Tripalium Corp
We tend to turn to Belgium’s Tripalium Corp looking for modern, techno-driven reconsiderations of the links between acid and EBM, but the French label has all manner of other tricks up its sleeve. The latest EP from Greek producer Fro, draws upon an often woozy and off-kilter set of sounds associated both with the electronic underground and previous moments of mainstream crossover. The opening title track of A Theme In Grain draws a line between classic French electro sequencing and the rolling clatter we’ve come to associate with the always nebulous machine rock tag, but tied together in a tidy club package. That same unnerving mix of bass programming and squelching programming is brought to a simmering peak with highlight “We Will Meet Again”, where deep space weirdness phases in and out of sync with solid EBM fundamentals and a hooky shuffle beat. Your level of interest in the record might have an upper limit depending on your interest in funky house; both “Call Me Back Again” and “Contact” have a fair bit of the rubbery, pinging bass that was inescapable in the 90s, with the latter’s Kraftwerkian (or perhaps Daft Punkian) robo-vocals prompting some serious flashbacks.
