Mileece
Formations
(Lo Recordings)
I'd heard about this release some time ago, yet it took me awhile to finally get around to hearing the entire thing. I knew it was fragile electronic constructions, all based around the idea of plant growth, made on unique software that was somewhat tinkered with in order to get the right output. Like the Kim Hiorthoy-designed album cover art, what you hear is what you see. It's a release that will likely frustrate many listeners, because while their are beautiful patterns that unfold and unfurl, it's rather simply constructed and most of the tracks follow the same sort of formula in seeking their paths.
The first track of "Aube" moves like a sort of ever growing vine that never has any sort of pattern to it at all. Warm filigrees of chiming electronics branch out and never look back, with melodies and phrases that never repeat themselves. A gentle reverb crops up once in awhile, giving things breath while the quiet electronics somewhat remind one of the subtle work by Nobukazu Takemura. The two tracks of "Fern" and "Formations" actually explore similar melodies, pushing out slight delays of the pinging fragments and creating gentle whirs of sound that have almost a Steve Reich-esque phase-pattern feel every so often. It's on these two tracks where layering also becomes a more important part of the release, as different pitches of tones play out around one another and low-end hits provide a solid bed for the fluttering above. "Fern" is probably the most structured track on the entire disc, repeating a quiet melody over and over again while almost random pulse tones blip out at key moments.
The middle track of "Tridi" feels almost like an afterthought in the wake of the other tracks on the release. Clocking in at just about a minute and a half, it's the shortest song on the release by several minutes and could easily just be some leftover tinkering from the somewhat aimless first track. The closer of "Nightfall" actually pulls some more elements into the basic sonic structure of the release, and they're very welcome additions. After opening with amplified breathing noises, some plucked tones ring out while a soft bed of static leads into the simple mantra of vocals that repeat, "sleep...deep." In description, it sounds a bit on the twee side of things, but in actuality works quite well, adding some new wrinkles to the sounds that seem to dominate the rest of the release. With 5 tracks clocking in at just over 40 minutes, the twinkling electronic is very pretty, but even with the short running length runs into the problem of simply sounding a bit too similar during that short running time. There are some beautiful moments, and if you like the above mentioned artists, you definitely won't go wrong here. Personally, I hope the last track on the disc is just a hint of the exploration to come.
Rating: 6.5
