Audio.NL
Various Artists
Shadow
It’s always intriguing to discover subcultures of modern electronic music, especially those who are based of out of less than exotic locales. Location: Moscow. An anonymous collective under the acronym GOEM infiltrates European experimentalism in 1998 through renowned Russian subsidiary Motor.
Rather than rely on simple 4/4 beats and piping, ready-to-go melodies that permeate through most of the ilk, GOEM culls a minimal, electro effect with the most sinister of suppressed synth blurbs. Audio.NL is actually the label founded by the aforementioned collective, and its ruthlessly stripped down credo is something rarely heard this side of Richie Hawtin. Although the droning tends to languish a minute or two longer than necessary, there is something very deep and labyrinthine of the overall record. To see a musical underdog like Russia come through with something this refreshing, it’s quite a feat. If icy mechanics combed over with the basic formations of house music sounds palatable to you, then by all means, don’t say nyet.
Shadow Records: http://www.shadowrecords.com
