PRICE:
$15.50
IN STOCK
ARTIST
TITLE
Supernature
FORMAT
CD

LABEL
CATALOG #
ORAC 020CD ORAC 020CD
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
8/28/2006

This is Portland, Oregon based Solenoid's fourth full-length release. Solenoid is a well-established IDM producer who knows that you don't need new tools to tell new stories. Bold, speculative futures can be written with a pencil, or played on the piano. Solenoid's new album, Supernature, is made with a familiar palette of analog sounds in which the venerable 303 features prominently. But Solenoid finds new territory with these classic sounds, using his mastery of synthesis as a base camp from which to explore new ideas in writing and arrangement. Well-known in the IDM world from his full-length releases on Outward Music, Emanate and Hiao Hiao Hiao, Solenoid steps decisively into dance music with this release, and the results are like rare acid tracks from a parallel universe. There is solid dancefloor stuff here, as well as plenty of melodic, musical glimmers: take "Drack Soul," which sounds like the missing link between Alexander Robotnick and Kompakt-style neo-trance. Or "July's War Butterflies," with its crystalline synths and raw electro-techno beats which hold their own next to our favorite Drexciya tracks. Supernature is, on top of all this, a concept album. Each track is an exploration of an idea from Solenoid's sketchbooks in which he paints and writes about nanotechnology, genetic engineering, and future battles between Free Cascadians and corporate kings. The darker side of these speculations is evident in the interstitial "free electronics" tracks full of primordial synth oozings and piercing, ripping analog sounds. Supernature is a diverse, engaging album, with solid club tracks and free-electronic freakouts aplenty.