As its title suggests, this 14 track unmixed compilation Ventilate: Illawarra Electronic Sounds, released by Wollongong-based independent label Order Of Nature via grant funding from Wollongong City Council cultural services aims to provide an exposure point for the work of a wide range of unsigned artists currently operating amongst that city. In the sleevenotes that accompany this release, Force Of Nature certainly don’ indicate any interest or concern for the narrowness of genres, describing themselves as “specialising in experimental beats, hiphop, electro, industrial, punk and field recordings.’ It’s definitely a diverse aesthetic that manifests itself in the tracklisting here, which swings from leftfield ambience to dance-friendly beats, with a noticeable emphasis towards hiphop-centred sounds present.
Nameless Numberhead’ “Half The Beast’s opens proceedings on a more leftfield downbeat trajectory, with eerie ringing harmonics gliding through a slow backing of hissing beatboxing textures and plangent-sounding analogue synth tones in what’s easily one of this compilation’ most mesmerising near-ambient offerings, before Russell Law nicely picks up the baton with the delicate “Kite Pt. 1′, which places gentle guitar and vocal tones over a smooth backing of headnod hip-hop grooves, the delicate guitars trailing off at points in a manner that recalls Decoder Ring. By complete contrast, Sonny Syah and DJ Force drop a more than solid slice of Aussie hiphop in the form of “Ice 2 Eskimos’, which occupies the sort of territory marked out by Hilltop Hoods, just before CORE’ “Succumb’ changes the pace completely by taking things out into streamlined dancefloor-friendly electro-house.
Sean Sheap’ “Simply An Addict’s manages to provoke a grin with its tongue-in-cheek blend of tobacco-centric samples and funky instrumental hiphop grooves calling to mind Briztronix or DJ Regal, while experimental sound artist and instrument builder Warren Burt’s “Etude 4-3 From Proliferating Infinities’ builds itself from the digitally treated sounds of plucked harp strings, the elements constantly rearranging themselves subtly according to a strict mathematical sequence. Percussion Junction (the only act I’d previously heard of here) meanwhile provide the one live track here with four minutes of junglist action taken from Sydney’ Manning Bar last year, the fluid collision of skanking horns, tribal rhythms and breakbeats easily giving the likes of The Bird a hefty run for their money. While Ventilate certainly jumps drastically between styles and genres, resulting in something of a headscrambling listen at times, its real priority is to act as a showcase for the work of these predominantly lesser-known artists, and in that respect it succeeds admirably.
