Entain

Walking down a New York street recently, I was seduced by strange noises. As I walked I realized I was approaching music. I followed it indoors past a sign that said "Vladislav Delay, 8 O'Clock". Here he was preforming to a crowd of no more than 30 people. I watched as he inserted small disks into his machines, he swayed back and forth like a tiny plant inside it's own massive atmosphere. All of the material was from the album "Entain" which is the best kind of electronic music. The sounds are well choosen, they never suggest anything superfluous, the soft voices of machines send you into a puzzle of associations. It's a clever hedonistic treat, a great CD to relax to.

I have loved many CDs in my life. Radiohead, DJ Shadow, Autechre, Christian Fennesz-all these artists were once the creators of my favorite CD of all-time. Not any longer. That honor is now bestowed upon Vladislav Delay. I own his entire catalog, but Entain is by far his best. At first listen, it may appear to be simply some beautiful ambient music that is left in the background. But upon listening with headphones a few hundred times, you will realize that it is so much more. The sounds are a microsymphony of sorts-and you will also realize his rhythms are unbelievable. I cannot think of any artist who has ever sounded like Vladislav Delay. I listen to this CD once a day, as I have for the last four months. It keeps me regular and inspired. Easily one of the deepest CDs out there. It is just as layered as someone like DJ Shadow, but at a much quieter level. Add on top of this the fact that Delay uses like four-five different rhythms layered over each other at any given time and you've got a masterpiece for your ears. Sometimes I can just listen to the background chords for twenty minutes. Fantastic.

Vladislav Delay is an Helsinki producer that has been involved in the field of electronic music, from as early as 1996. His manifesto is to take various forms of electronic music (particularly techno), and imbue the sound with a decidedly experimentalist edge, often linking forms of Experimental Dub to his music, it largely revloves around fractured, cerebral, glitch-derived suites that explore the possibilities of minimal electronic music. To describe the music as 'Simply beautiful', would be an accurate statement to make, although it will most likely take repeated listens , to come to this conclusion.

Comprising of nothing more than 6 tracks (two of which are untitled and serve as transitional pieces). The mood here is one of hypnotic disjointed micro sounds, eerily detached metallic pings, ambient loops, and complex glitch-focused discombobulated beats, dynamic percussion that gradually shifts and morphs over the long passages of tracks, and harsh industrial-style formless sounds, that work in conjunction with each other, to produce something uniquely assembled and impeccably composed.

"Kohde" latches calm ambient soundscapes that slowly drift into view, before a freeform cut-up reverberated bass begins to take hold. Crackly soundbites intertwine with tense bass to form a strangely compelling left-field ambience. With layered Whirls & Clicks gently entering the arrangements, with something akin to the more dense moments associated with someone like "Boards of Canada".....hypnotic almost-trance like electronica, that is mechanical sounding, yet strangely inviting. Droning synths begin to gradually pierce through the distorted ambience, with brief segues in sound ushering forth, adding more layers to the Cuts & Clicks and off-centre bass, covering the sound with an almost dream-like radiance, alongside the heavily layered sound. Effects are slowly applied over the course of this track (which runs at 22 Min's), usually without the listener realising on the first couple of listens, but the accumulative effect is, one of lots & lots of little elements working together to form a coherent (slightly Avant-garde) whole.

"Piko" works Crunching clicks, to unsettling effect, with a soft synth melody arrangement shifting alongside, with barely audible human sighs, and a suitably crackly pulsating machinery plucks & pings that start to take shape, with a slight insistent bass throbbing subtly altering throughout the duration of the track, and a form of bass that feels like its been disconstructed and then rebuilt to fit within the glitch-based canopy of serene left-field sounds that continue to fight against each other. Only some 11 minutes into the track does a gradually shift in the sound take place, a slight softening of the sound begins to emerge, the harsher edges are softened, and the synth composition begins to push forward, the discernible human voices become slightly clearer. Its questionable that some listeners will find this a bit much too digest on the first listen, but multiple listens will unearth a deep-rooted brilliance that simple can't be appreciated on the first (couple) of listens. Yet shows that Vladislav, isn't looking for immediate accessibility, but rather an approach that listeners will settle into over time.

"Notke" centers its central theme around Bass...as it is cut and broken down into its most basic elements & them reformed into something approaching a conceptualised Dub-Reggae, with throbbing bass, with layers of electronic-techno sensibilities fused and added to the sound. This is by far the most easily digestable sounding track on the album.....its more akin to minimalistic Dubby-techno, with a murky slow-paced bass-heavy lingering approach with minuscule bits of percussion, with is far removed from the Avant-garde cuts & Clicks of previous tracks. So this is, the most straight forward track, and therefore the most accessible, but as before...repeated listens reveal subtle layers of tweaked sound and breathy ambience, gently sitting under the moody Dub. Dynamically shifting over the course of the track. Its a perfect marriage of the hypnotic mood of Dub, with the electronically derived, whirls, clicks & twists of electronica. (and arguably my favourtie track on this remarkable album).

Newcomers to this form of IDM (intelligent Dance Music) or Experimental-techno & Glitch, may find this a little bit too intimidating to start their enquires with, as he really is pushing and extending the boundaries of the genre, and being remarkable innovative to boot. But those that either: (A) already know 'Vladislav Delay's' work...or (B) Are well adversed in the genre, really need to seek out this highly desirable (and expensive) left-field gem.