Published by Davide Pappalardo on August 30, 2016
Let’s talk again about Anywave, an underground French label home to many coldwave, minimal, experimental, etc. projects. This time we celebrate its existence by reviewing the fifth episode of Wavecore series, a limited compilation (180 hand numbered copies on cd-r) where we find a selection of artists coming from Europe, Canada, America; so we have Sphyxion‘s cinematic and experimental sound, Imavizion Direq‘s pulsating minimal synth with its old-school vibes, EDH with their melancholic coldwave, Den Nya Borgen‘s theatrical and experimental electronic ambient, Les Hôpitaux with its proto-synth punk full of noisy reverberations, and many more.
We start with already quoted Sphyxion (whose self-titled work we already reviewed on these pages) and their track Sphyxion 12, which already by the name continues the work of their full length, giving us a tribal, crawling, evocative ambient suite played on minimal effects, and then we find Die Ufer ethereal and obsessive number Airport DNA, an orchestral soundscape that grows by any second with its dreamy keys. Our Fortress play a deconstructed, minimal, experimental tech-house track in Glossy Hating…, a song full of vocals samples and rhythmic sounds, which evokes a very bad hangover in the most positive way, while Spatial Relation‘s Mental Radio is a minimal wave episode with female vocals, based on slow synths and rhythmic patterns.
Bring Her‘s Carve The Hour starts with distorted bass and martial minimal drums, soon enriched by a lysergic atmosphere where female and male vocals duet among ghostly guitars, a downtempo affair that evokes a psychedelic night full of regrets, mnntab chooses with Prime Over a submerged version of post-punk music, full of layers and filtered in a modular movement where instruments and voice are merged together in proto-industrial experiment, and Volcano‘s Bétharram is a cinematographic synthwave composition that recalls 80’s science-fiction movies, a track based on few layers of synth and majestic keys.
The work ends with Fléau and their track Tu Vivras dans les Rui…, a more darkwave oriented episode which starts with an ambient suite, an emotive crescendo that grows until it adds a pulsating rhythm and more affirmative keys, resembling the score of horror movies from the 70’s. An apt closure for a varied and interesting sequence of tracks that shows us the whole spectrum of the label’s interests.
A compilation that shows us the underbelly of today’s independent post punk, minimal, and electronic music, giving us the opportunity to discover many overlooked names; that’s for sure the true spirit of the label, which forfeits any easy commercial scheme in favor of a conscious artistic statement where the peculiar projects and “outsiders” are openly welcomed. Lovers of this kind of styles will have an interesting experience, maybe even discovering some new passion and interest. A warmly advised experience for the adventurous and open minded listeners.
Label: Anywave
Rating: 8