Artist: salice
Title: purple/green+blue
Label: Milk
Catalog #: ep/lp release #4
Release Date: 1999/05/11
“Purple” is something very nice playing with a mono lead. There are notes used from octave number -2 to 9 I guess. Nice filters and vibratos too. This is a very short one – well it is an intro for the album. The album’s ending tune “purple revisit” is very similar both by it’s name and it’s melodies though it is more of an improvised track.
Sweeping pads and heavy beats play the mainrole in “adv track”. The drum beat has effected electronic drum sounds. There are effects that go very nice in rhythm with the drum beat. I love the reverbed noises.
The third track is one of my favorites on the album. “Green circles” starts with something sounding like an electric piano. There are some sinewave pianos and clarinet-sounding instruments playing melodies. The drums are just great with effects like filters and reversed beats used in just the right parts. There are some clever little pitchbend and other tricks during the tune. The track ends with a single sinewave instrument playing something very different from the other tune but sounding very nice still.
“Denatured” turns more on the Autechre’ish side with it’s bizarre noisy drums and effects. On the other hand, the beautiful pads (which you might hear on the background) are just pure ambient (in Selected Ambient Works II style). I’m so glad there is the end part with only those pads. They are just great.
The fifth tune “sun track” is again another of my favorites. It starts with bizarre sounds such as pitched up drum loops. A 12-string guitar (at least it sounds like one) playing nice melodies and chords – very relaxing. A sine bass introduces the extremely crisp drum&bass drum beat. Again there are very much effects used on the drums. The track’s end is a bit weird, completely separate from the rest of the tune.
High quality, professional idm. Reminds me of Aphex Twin’s Richard D.James LP (have you by the way noticed how many times milk-tunes have been compared to Aphex Twin’s work?). Watch out Warp, if we continue releasing music like this (and oh yes we will) we might become a good competitor for you.
[ 93 %]
Tracklist:
01 – purple
02 – adv track
03 – green circles
04 – denatured
05 – sun track
06 – purple revisit
Artwork:
Front Cover
Artist: kiova project
Title: kosovo
Label: Milk
Catalog #: ep/lp release #3
Release Date: 1999/05/03
A four-track ep:
Shiaman consists of effects and filtered pads. Somewhere in the half way there are some ethnic wind instruments playing strange melodies. The track ends with a heavy highpass-filtered pad and an effect of water hitting a tank. Quite nice a track really – still missing some action.
Ats is a peaceful ambient track. The sweeping filtered pads play a main role in this one with strange background noises.
Kikituk starts with an ooh-pad (you know the preset on many synths) playing misty melodies. At 1:30 the drums fade in. They are just a simple loop but what I like about them are the little changes in tempo at times. Then there is $ an acoustic guitar and a pad just a little out of tune giving a really special spooky feel. I love this one. This really stands out.
Jiik has the same formula: Strings with some effects. This time the effects are a radio noise. The main instrument is something that brought an image to my mind of a wooden box with a string that you pick with your finger. A flute of some kind plays tunes for a couple of minutes. Then there come the usual orchestral strings.
Although this album isn’t very groundbreaking and professional it has plenty of good ideas and it is a nice ambient album.
[ 86 %]
Tracklist:
01 – Shiaman
02 – Ats
03 – Kikituk
04 – Jiik
Artwork:
Front Cover
Artist: kyllönen
Title: no Xivic CD1
Label: Milk
Catalog #: ep/lp release #2
Release Date: 1999/04/22
Weird, noisy, distorted, mind blowing. They would be good words to describe the album. Although there are people for sure who can’t stand this kind of music, I love it.
The first tune “Sammalkorva” has cleverly used drums and effects that get to your head and eat your brain, ahem. No melodies here, who needs ’em anyway?
The second track “hieno ihminen” consists mainly of weird drumsequences (heavily flanged at times and effected, of course) and feedback noise on the background. Kyllönen must have heard R.D.James’ Vaz Deferenz a little too many times ’cause the background beat sounds just like it. There are even some bits of melody in this one in the end part: some random sounding little bleeps.
Third track, “retrospektro”, is again something weird (all of them are actually). If this was commercial music it Kyllönen would probably get sued because of this track’s sampled musical bits (Ettei vaan olisi Abbalta?). At times the beat vanishes in the chaos of distortion and noise – this was almost hard listening even for me but I guess I’ll survive from the ear damage.
“Kehoruoska (kolmas muoto)” has the same wicked formula. This one also has some strings (whoa!) playing little one note tunes. This track probably has the least to give because of its minimality, although this has some good ideas too. When I listened this I began to feel uncertain about my speakers when the track came towards the end.
This album is really something that you shouldn’t recommend to someone who has a narrow mind in music or who listens only “musical” and mainstream music. A high quality professional album this one. I say brilliant – can’t wait for CD2.
[ 92 %]
Tracklist:
01 – Sammalkorva
02. – hieno ihminen
03 – retrospektro
04 – Kehoruoska (kolmas muoto)
Artwork:
Front Cover
Inner Sleeve
Back Cover 1
Back Cover 2
Netlabel Archive 
You must be logged in to post a comment.