IDM is a curious genre: most people have heard it, but few can identify it. The genre adds a jolt to late-hour clubs and adrenalizes science fiction and video game soundtracks. Yet despite its ubiquity, it remains faceless, a liminal series of sounds resting between the borders of industrial and techno. Early adopters such as haujobb and Intermix gave way to auteurs such as Autechre and Gridlock; eventually, even these seemed to sink into the ether. The temptation for many other IDM artists was to embrace the sounds of drum ‘n’ bass, and later dubstep, while sacrificing the genre’s core elements: glitchy percussion, padded warmth and intricate programming, the combination of which inspired the “intelligent” tag. Scottish label mates Dissolved (Paul Daniels) and Nomina (Tam Ferrans / Mitoma) have resisted the urge to scuttle their sounds in an attempt to sound trendy, and their work is better off as a result. Foil Splinters does possess a throwback vibe, but for fans of the genre, it’s also a return to form, a blast from the undeveloped past, a symbol of the way things might have gone.
The album is a split release that presents a half-dozen tracks from each artist, plus a pair of tracks in which the two remix each other’s work. Ironically, the pair lived in the same town but only began to correspond when one moved to Canada – one of the nations kindest to industrial music in the 1980s (thanks in great part to Nettwerk Records, whose spirit is honored here). The two are similar enough in style to compliment each other, but different enough to be distinctive.
Dissolved’s half opens the set with a series of complex arrangements and consistent beats. In tone, his work hearkens back to the instrumental side of the aforementioned Intermix, itself an offshoot of Front Line Assembly. An experimental joy is apparent in the sedimentary layering of sounds; Daniels lays on as much as he can without losing the clarity of a single sonic voice. The percussion is the project’s most intriguing aspect, wandering all over the map while preserving the tempo. It would be easy to tap out the beat, but not the beats. This creative programming is balanced by melodic synth excursions: the meat on the skeleton, the donut around the jelly. A trance aspect is preserved in the keys; Dissolved is journey music, always a step away from transcendence. The inclusion of sparse, indecipherable vocal samples adds to the spiritual impression, never more so than on “Ionic Lure”. But Dissolved’s best work here is his remix of Nomina’s “Ericht”, which explores dynamic contrast in a restrained fashion, including a moment in which the beats finally pause for contemplation.
Nomina is more concerned with the hard, danceable beat, the earthy, the now. On his half, he explores the hard wood of the dancefloor, toning down the wanderlust of the drums. The techno aspects of his production are slightly more apparent than on his friend’s half, although the industrial aspects are by no means eliminated. The tempo often adopts the black boot stomp of Front 242, most apparent on the 109 b.p.m. “Fankie”. “Poploch” is the most modern track, despite possessing the most retro title; one could certainly pop lock to these sounds (and the percolation is reminiscent of a popcorn popper), but current dance maneuvers would be just as effective. The nicest surprise arrives at the end of “Ericht”, when everything but the best is stripped away – a completely different ending than that found in the remix. Only “Lateral” fails the test, as its percussive patterns trip over each other to the point of distraction. Finally, Nomina abbreviates and bulks up Dissolved’s “Pelagic Majesty”, in effect creating an entirely different track that justifes the re-work. Now that each has remixed the other, how about a collaboration? (Richard Allen)
a closer listen 