Emme | Into The Darkness
Modularfield (CS/DL)
This is a techno like nothing else out there right now. The press nugget kind of summarized the ethos here:
Although a seemingly dark title, the music is a sonic journey and a catharsis, with the cosmos, technology, the future and life experiences as her focal point. Emme uses her musical expression to focus our feelings and thoughts, so complex as the universe itself.
You are floating in space on this cathartic vessel of the psyche by Emme Moisés (here as Emme). The initial narrator vanishes as a melange of beats and fractalized science fiction begins to take hold. This is a combination of denizen beats and darkness, with a host of fleeting minimal percussive effects that make it just right for the post-DIY generation (just who are they?). The artfully geo-abstract cover art by Markus Scholz illustrates this ass-end-up vibe.
This is not a house record, and likely awkward to dance to outright per se, but it has all the underpinnings that once may have been referred to as IDM and the like. I’d imagine if you permeated a classic record from Ant-Zen with something from the 90’s Instinct Ambient gems you’d start to scratch the surface – but this has it’s own glossy personality. It’s engaging in the way incidental music you may experience while binge-watching Stranger Things is (earth calling) – yet, the real core of this definitely hinges on the fictional realm quite smartly. In this way its smarts are loosely fielding pop music (XH-28:A) by adding commercial elements as well as a surprise harp, a drumkit and lithe cosmic synths for a melodic jam session.
The ten-minute long track when the wind whispers gently harkens back to Terre Thaemlitz’s indulgent Soil, but ends up sounding more like the alien engagement scenes in the film Arrival (Jóhann Jóhannsson), there is something orchestral, something that whispers loudly, and a drawn out pacing and thermal rumble to back it up. This leads to a quickened pulse-like beat that strays from its intro, and eventually into a mystical riff of alien babble and lamentation. It paints with a broad brush, indeed.
On a piece of the sky the mood is drenched in cryptic sonance. After a few minutes of soothing repose, this begins to unfold with a low-level impulsiveness. The last few minutes ties up many loose ends with trickling and spinning effects that would dizzy the most hardcore listener. Though this tape explores so much territory, its more experimental than bipolar in effect. A generous, imaginative offering.
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