spinning drum blog

In celebration of its 50th release of “emotional experiments in music,” n5MD has capped its seven years of production with a double compilation CD of exclusive new material, remixes and covers from it ’s IDM alumni. AEM, Arc Lab, BitCrush, Quench, Funckarma and Loess are a few notables, and the combined sound unleashes a definitive collection of modern and moody. The forlorn piano keys of Near the Parenthesis “Into the Green” opens the sonic foray. Soon after KeefBaker’s echoy drum rolls in “Never”surge forth and batter down any expectation of pure mellowness, as does the crunch and static of SubtractiveLAD’s “Back To You” and the drawn out glitch-step of Funkcama’s “Skaind.” The rest, characterized by mostly pensive rhythms, expansive synths, and jarring IDM, makes for a distorted indie rock/electronica collection offering intermittent ambient refuge. The most notable chill comes in AEM’s rustling soundscape “Hilbert,” and Loess’ Rhythm and Sound like dub remix of Quenches’”Bud.”
n5MD Records – n5MD.com by Romina Wendell (first published in Exclaim)

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