Nexsound – experimental, ambient, noise, improv record label

Review

Aversionline

I/DEX – Seqsextend

This curious experimental project hails from Belarus and offers up herein over an hour’s worth of chilled out experimental electronics based largely around smoothly flowing bass drones and hums, light glitches and crunchy textures, etc. The label describes the work as “crossing the borders of minimal techno, IDM and microsound”, which may or may not be true, I’m not all that familiar with such genres, but I like this. In a sense it’s quite rhythmic sometimes, even musical, but in a very subtle sense. It’s really quite atmospheric, and I enjoy it a lot. Tracks like “Rand” introduce subtle beats in the distance amongst ethereal synth tones and textures that create a really lush composition. There’s definitely a soundtrack sort of vibe going on in a way, but it’s a weird mix of being both dark and mildly upbeat, so I could imagine the music backing a commercial of some sort more so than scoring a film or anything. Granted “Evox” is a much darker piece, topping six minutes and using some tribal sounding percussion behind eerie synths and faint harmonies. The recording quality is great, everything is nice and clear, and the details of the panning and layering come across nicely. The CD comes in a simple gatefold digipack that’s all done in shades of bright pink and white, with blocky text and abstract imagery. It’s all got kind of a “digital” aesthetic to it, and looks very simple and consistent. It’s a very consistent release as a whole, in all honesty. Visually, sonically, etc. I wouldn’t say there’s a great deal of variation from song to song, and it can become tedious as a result of that (due to the CD’s total running time of more than an hour), but at the same the consistency helps things along. It makes sense and fits the approach of the material. All in all this very cool, and I’m curious to hear more both from this project and the record label.