Sundaze (43)

Hello, Sundaze today stays closer to home - in time that is, three releases from 2002's clicks n cuts IDM year. First of Daedelus supposedly named himself after the cunning worker Daedalus from greek mythology, he's supposed to have designed the labyrinth(minotaur) and had a son killed (Icarus) after he flew to high with his dads contraption. Well Invention is an apt title for an impeccably paced and brilliantly conceived album....Also from the States are Twine their sound is a structure meets noise vs. melody sound, always morphing into something new....finally Darrell Fitton, best known under his moniker Bola, but here he's used the moniker Jello where he let's whirring machinations and alien spaces, open up widescreen dimensions, mesmerising stuff...

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Daedelus - Invention (02 ^ 353mb)

Daedelus (Alfred Weisberg-Roberts) producer/instrumentalist wanted to be an inventor from an early age, a sentiment that led to him choosing this artistic moniker (Greek mythology Daedalus). Alfred was formally trained on double bass and bass clarinet (and also played the guitar and accordion, among other things) and studied jazz at USC, Daedelus chose to go the electronica route, often incorporating samples from the '30s and '40s into his IDM and left-field hip-hop. Though his first single came out in 2001, it wasn't until the following year that his debut full-length, Invention, was released. It's an utterly innovative electronic construction combining samples drawn from acoustic source recordings from the '30s, '40s, and '70s, Invention is a work of complex genius. Built on sturdy, repetitive, sentimental piano progressions and syrupy, string-laden, Disney-esque backdrops that are spliced into the mix, the addition of fluttering synth lines and sparking electronic beats creates something vaguely new and almost cinematic in scope. The album is impeccably paced and brilliantly conceived, fitting together like a giant puzzle stretching across the genres and generations

Daedelus was a prolific composer, and the next four years brought four new albums (on Plug Research and Mush): 2003's Rethinking the Weather, 2004's Of Snowdonia, 2005's Exquisite Corpse, and 2006's Daedelus Denies the Day's Demise. There have also been countless singles and side projects, including producing The Weather for Mush labelmates Busdriver and Radioinactive in 2003. The musician's engaging live set was finally made available for fans, albeit in limited numbers, with Live at Low End Theory -- recorded during a July 2007 performance at Los Angeles's The Airliner -- released in early 2008. Love to Make Music To followed in July.



01 - Playing Parties (3:06)
02 - Pursed Lips Reply (3:03)
03 - Astroboy (3:41)
04 - Adventress (2:57)
05 - Elegy (At Last) (3:50)
06 - Muggle Born (3:32)
07 - Aplomb (1:10)
08 - Experience (2:06)
09 - Loded (2:08)
10 - Quiet Now (3:31)
11 - Minor Detour (1:12)
12 - Perchance A Bit (3:08)
13 - Soulful Of Child (2:07)
14 - Thus The Whirligig (2:37)
15 - Quiet Now (Voc.Busdriver) (3:31)
16 - Pursed Lips Reply (Voc.Sach) (3:05)

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Twine - Recorder (02 ^ 342mb)

Twine's Greg Malcolm and Chad Mossholder started making music together in high school in Cleveland, OH. Though they dabbled in punk rock, a shared interest in industrial music pulled the friends toward electronics. The group was a trio for a short time after forming at Kent State University in 1997, but Twine ultimately became Malcolm and Mossholder's project. Both have studied computers and technology formally. Mossholder pays rent as a sound designer for a video game company in Boulder, CO, while Malcolm works as an audio engineer in Cleveland. The pair collaborate by exchanging tapes and sound files through the mail and across the Internet. Twine combine samples, digitally generated tones, and processed instruments into an electronic mix that defies easy categorization. They seem to focus more on composition resulting in tracks with a pronounced cinematic bent.

The first Twine release was the full-length Reference in 1999. Following a buzz-building contribution to Hefty's exceptional Immediate Action series, Twine issued their second CD, Recorder, in 2002, a dark and deep album that evidenced building confidence. Among the blips and clicks and electronic manipulations, listeners find other instruments, speech recordings, and that particular post-rock melancholia. Yet, Twine's music eschews clichés to offer something different and greater than the sum of its influences. Along the way, Twine found time to contribute two compilations of loops and textures to be incorporated by end users into Sonic Foundry's influential Acid software, and they remained an active touring unit. A third, self-titled album for Ghostly International arrived in 2003, followed by a digital-only release of their Surfaces EP in 2006. An atmospheric full-length titled Violets appeared in spring of 2008.



01 - None Some Silver (7:39)
02 - Cign (6:32)
03 - Fine Music (7:30)
04- Player Piano (5:49)
05 - Factor (6:45)
06 - Curved (6:56)
07 - Touched (5:45)
08 - There Is No One Else (9:00)

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Jello - Voile (02 ^341mb)

Darrell Fitton is from Manchester, England. Most of his work is recorded under recording monikers Bola and Jello, released primarily on Skam Records. In 1995 he released the Bola 1 12" on Skam Records. Fitton displayed the same style of chrome-dipped melodic techno adhered to by many Warp artists, his subsequent Bola material focused in on a heartier, less accessible aesthetic. His self-titled Skam EP combined vaguely funk-fueled rhythms with harsh, austere synth textures and almost industrial-grade distortion. "Aguilla" was an extremely limited-run three-track seven-inch released by Skam in 1998. Two months later appeared Soup, Fitton's long-awaited LP debut. An impressive synthesis of the machine-beat ambiance of post-techno with warm, wistful analog soul. In addition to his Bola releases, Fitton loaned his production chops to the first 12-inch by Warp artists Autechre under their Gescom guise, and is rumored to serve as Skam's in-house engineer.

A rare set of 3 EPs called Shapes was released in 2000, pressed at only 300 copies; in September 2006, it was remastered and reissued in greater numbers by Skam, adding three bonus tracks. In 2001 he released "Fyuti" , following up the sublime ‘Fyuti’ he released Voile, the debut full-length under the Jello moniker. This is mesmerising stuff from Fitton, retaining the slick production for which Bola is so well known, while throwing in open spaces and influences derived from Jazz, Classical and Hip Hop arrangements. Whirring machinations and alien spaces, allowing widescreen dimensions for (long time Bola collaborator) Dennis Bourne to inject his slowly delivered narrative to perfection. What manages to elevate ‘Viole’ to true greatness, however, is the dense glimpse of unease that accompannies this album from beginning to end. The precision of sound and composition savvy at this level finding contrast with Fitton’s dark understructures, a kind of harmonic beauty that’s built on deconstruction and unease. More aesthetically soothing and organic than Bola material, Voile is a true classic.



01 - Vibe-A-Rolla (Voc.Phil Donahue) (4:52)
02 - Ephemex (5:52)
03 - Vamillaglade (6:10)
04 - Chamchimzee (5:02)
05 - Pequill (3:54)
06 - Neph (6:08)
07 - O'verb (Voc.Tegwen Roberts ) (5:13)
08 - Pi-Knipple (6:05)
09 - Lungbone (4:58)
10 - Shinoque (Voc.Dennis Bourne) (7:24)
11 - Conokut (6:00)


***** ***** ***** ***** *****