|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2LP
|
|
VFORM 028LP
|
|
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
VFORM 028CD
|
"As eclectic as remix albums can be, this set of make-overs from 2002's critically-acclaimed We Can Fix It opus (also on Vertical Form), finds Sweden's Henrik Johansson (aka Smyglyssna) in the company of Soft Pink Truth (one half of San Franciscan electronic enfants terribles Matmos), underground hip hop star (and Lex recording artist) Boom Bip, hipper-than-thou west coast Anticon luminaries Sixtoo and Restiform Bodies, along with eerie Icelandic soundscapers Einoma and Brighton rock/electronic fusionists Fujiya & Miyagi. Smyglyssna also adds one of his own remixes and one previously unavailable solo track. Like the We Can Fix It album itself, this will appeal to fans of Warp-style electronic futurism and Skam grooves -- but it's eclectic remix means that everything from beautiful ambient soundscaping to crunching Krautrock beats and eerie atmospherics get a look in. it really works as a smart, modernist album in its own right -- and clocking in at less than 40 minutes, it hardly outstays its welcome, instead inviting instant replay."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
VFORM 015CD
|
"After months of production, tweaking and final adjustments the album finally see's the light of day, clocking in at 46 minutes in length, with 9 tracks in total, each cut individually incorporating Smyglyssna's signature sound whilst offering a new funkier and more diverse edge to his production approach. Through careful combination of sophisticated software use, along with more traditional analog production techniques, Smyglyssna creates a sound that looks to the past for reference whilst simultaneously defining a take on the future. Working with a variety of hip hop sensibilities along with a variety of differing electro and techno sound aesthetics, We Can Fix It works on a variety of levels providing listeners with a body of work documentative of both a generation of music along with his own vast array of musical influences. Cut's such as 'Mights It Be's And If It Were's' look to early '90s Detroit scraping through remnants of Carl Craig's 69 project and Stacey Pullen's Kosmik Messenger outputs whilst reinventing their take on the format of electronic funk by breathing new forms of synthesis into the construction of these types of groove. 'Triangular Ears' adopts a similarly fresh take on the format of experimental and avant hip hop by providing a backdrop of crisp, distorted drum beats alongside a more alternative selection of playful melodies and tight programming creating a groove at home in a variety of environments. 'Foaming Prairie' provides a beautifully crafted momentary breath of heart felt ambience to calm and console the listener whilst also providing a small insight into an alternative side of the smyglyssna sound. In all, an album of constant diversity, rhythmic essentials and heartfelt emotion packed with an obsession of sound and invention."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
12"
|
|
VFORM 011
|
"After the huge warming reception received over Smyglyssna's debut Vertical Form release 'U Don't Jump Like I Jump', the release of 'Departures', a collection of his as yet unheard earlier work recorded between 1999 and 2000 is a welcome addition to the Vertical Form catalogue. The six tracks featured on 'Departures' represent a period in the development of the Smyglyssna sound where the concept of atmospherics very much dominated his production approach before the incorporation of more diverse styles such as hip hop, electro, techno and house that are far more present in his current and forthcoming material. The tracks are also documentative of Smyglyssna's first productions working around a predominantly digital recording set-up."
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
12"
|
|
VFORM 009
|
"Vertical Form is pleased to announce the release of 'U Don't Jump Like I Jump' from Sweden's Smyglyssna in preparation for his debut album due this autumn. Having released projects under various guises for labels such as the US's Plug Research, Smyglyssna aka Henrik Johansson turns to a new project with a new philosophy, namely a special approach to production that is experimental and uncompromising in sound and processing but is not in anyway hard to digest. Having grown up on a semi-deserted Swedish island in the Baltic, Henrik's first ambition was to be either a balloonist or assassin. He also insists that his music is in no way influenced by the cliché of Scandinavian weather conditions which equals cold, introspective music. Instead this EP is music to move to, freeform digital funk littered with references from hip hop and 70's jazz funk or put more succinctly 'groove'. This is certainly no nostalgia trip however, having just spent the last year rebuilding his studio and moving from an analog to fully digital set up, the production is suitably fresh and forward thinking. With less reliance on ambient impressionist melody and pad based washes, crisp tight rhythms are very much at the center of these tracks, in much the same way as hip hop or early electro, but they are filtered through a different sensibility. Slithers of melody and rich texture collide with unusual time signatures as freer, looser expression encourages randomness whilst still showing the clarity and digital sculpture evident in the best 'computer music'."
|