Category: Bliss

Artist: Bliss
Title: Goodbye Brain, Hello Heart EP
Label: Monotonik
Catalog #: mtk137
Release Date: 2004/10/17

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We’re absolutely delighted to put out a third release from Swedish electronic artist Bliss, aka Henrik Jose, over a year after his well-received ‘It’s Not The Sweetness…‘ EP. Since then, he’s collaborated with music video directors Pleix (Basement Jaxx, Plaid, Futureshock) on an experimental video, while continuing to work on new material, but shines out his late 2003 vintage in ‘Goodbye Brain, Hello Heart EP’, a shimmering block of entirely instrumental sound produced in his Lund studio with a glorious melange of live instruments and synthesizers.

Thus, eschewing the vocals that sometimes characterize the Bliss-ful sound, ‘You Have Something In Your Scowl’ shows a more contemplative side, almost supernaturally languid in its sound submerging, before we slide into ‘Things Will Eventually Make Sense’ and the beautiful drums mix into the complex melodies, as things start to crystallize. And, indeed, they’re fully crystallized by ‘Time Time Time’, the final track, which builds up an almost robotic Spiritualized, only with the Church Of Robot Wisdom substituted for gospel influences, and Chapterhouse switched in for long-dead bluesmen.And we greet the heart, and the brain recedes, and the curtain falls. Amen.

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Credits:
cover by Bliss

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Tracklist:
01 – You Have Something In Your Scowl
02 – Things Will Eventually Make Sense
03 – Time Time Time

Artwork:
Front Cover

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License:
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

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Artist: Bliss
Title: Life On The Rooftop
Label: Monotonik
Catalog #: mtk108
Release Date: 2003/04/26

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Another new artist that turned heads immediately at Monotonik HQ, the Swedish-based Henrik ‘Bliss’ Jose, has been releasing tracks on net.label Fairlight Music for a while now, and when he came to us with this lushly produced, vocal-dotted electronic track, originally composed back in 2001, we snapped it up.

“Life On The Rooftop” starts out with some carefully placed organ, and segues into a full vocalmanipulated, densely produced track reminiscent of some of the earlier Super Science or Idmonster vocal experiments on Monotonik, and somehow cleaner and more glorious in its own right. In a search for electronica that sounds noticably different and strays from the same old norms, Bliss definitely comes up trumps.

[Thanks to Tony @ Kinglux for the excellent cover-art.]

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Credits:
cover by tony@kinglux

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Tracklist:
01 – Life On The Rooftop

Artwork:
Front Cover

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License:
Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial 1.0 Generic (CC BY-ND-NC 1.0)

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Artist: Bliss
Title: It’s Not The Sweetness We’re After, It’s The Sugar EP
Label: Monotonik
Catalog #: mtk116
Release Date: 2003/08/24

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The second release from Sweden’s Bliss, aka Henrik Jose, and this lovingly crafted 3-track EP cements his reputation as creator of some of the lushest, most beautiful electronics around. With his previous net.label releases on Fairlight Music and success at the Assembly demoparty last year, his vocalblended, multi-layered, live instrument-appropriating angle creates, well, just sublime results, welldeserving of a record deal any time now, we reckon.

This EP starts out with ‘Transportation Is Bliss’, all delicious melodies and tonal interplay, before seguing into the plain beautiful ‘Free At Least’, with pure-sung vocals and surprisingly hard-driving drums. Finally, ‘It’s Not The Sweetness..’ is all pitched-up voice and spiralling piano, subtle and inspiring, almost too good to give away. Thanks again for Bliss for doing so, anyhow – it’s a gesture everyone can appreciate.

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Credits:
picture by bliss

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Tracklist:
01 – Transportation Is Bliss
02 – Free At Least
03 – It’s Not The Sweetness We’re After, It’s The Sugar

Artwork:
Front Cover

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License:
Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial 1.0 Generic (CC BY-ND-NC 1.0)

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