Morpheus Music
IsraTrance Full Member
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Posted : Jun 14, 2007 15:30
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Monoceros - Tales For Silent Nights
STYLE
Soft ambient pads, glitchy beats and light, clean electronica. Tales for Silent Nights is an excellent series of atmospheric compositions very well produced. Smooth, soft focus backdrops fluctuate in loops, repeating patterns and shifting, filmy, gossamer abstraction. These are overlaid with fractured beats built up of clicks, ticks, blips, static and crackle with strong kicks - although quite busy, these complex beats are wrapped up in a downtempo laziness that is welcome and soothing. Melodies range from dreamy and blissful such as on the appropriately titled 'Warm', through elegant beauty to mechanical sharpness and edgy shadow. The sound palette includes a number of guitar based sounds such as the harmonic plucks that set the pace for 'Background Birds' and a variety of echoing stabs and almost sci-fi zaps, squishes and sonic flares. The occasional harshness of the synthetic leads often resolves beguilingly into an overall restfulness once all of the musical elements are all in place and complementing one another.
MOOD
There is a dignified warmth about this album like the glow of soft artificial light against evening gloom. There is, however, also the chill of the shadow behind the light - many of the atmospheres presenting a slightly uneasy darkness lurking beyond the more harmonious elements. At times the crisp electronic percussives and bleeps develop a jagged edge, sparking like live electricity, static crackling in the air.
ARTWORK
Tales For Silent Nights comes in a tasteful digipack fronted by one of the artist's own photographs - a night shot of a deserted road, the verge illuminated by the headlights of an unseen vehicle, pylons disappearing into a distant vanishing point ... but then the hazy red glow of a misty aurora is seen hanging across the bright disc of the moon. This cover image runs over onto about a quarter of the back panel - the rest is flat black for the title list. Inside the package opens onto more night black - CD on the left, text on the right ... brief recording details, thanks and contact information.
OVERALL
Monoceros is Spanish based musician Joan Malé who also owns and runs the label Imaginary Nonexistent Records (INR) as a vehicle for his creations. Tales For Silent Nights is the second album under the Monoceros title but the prolific Joan also produces music under the aliases Salad, .Exe and Lumière, each project focussing on a different specific style. This is a strong album of cutting edge digital electronica in my opinion that has some delightful highlights and an overall tastefulness that makes me want to like each track. If you are familiar with the sounds of such labels as Expanding Records or Static Caravan you'll have an idea of the sound Monoceros works with - night time shades, artificial luminance, organic-mechanic crispness and ambient warmth.
WHO WILL LIKE THIS ALBUM
Monoceros produces pure electronica for fans of lazy glitch filled ambient beat music. This is well crafted, intelligent music in the same overall field as Sabi, Sleepy Town Manufacture and Sutemos material.
More reviews at www.morpheusmusic.co.uk
  MORPHEUS MUSIC
www.morpheusmusic.co.uk
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