Parisian dark electronic producer Flint Glass (real name Gwenn Tremorin) has certainly been prolific since first emerging back in 1999, going on to found the respected French label Brume Records, as well as release two preceding solo albums of his own material, 2002′ “Hierakonpolis’ and 2006′ HP Lovecraft-quoting “Nyarlahotep.’ In the wake of last year’ “Information Gigabyte’ collaborative album with Telepherique on Montreal’ Angle.Rec label, this latest album on Tympanik “Circumsounds’ collects together Tremorin’ remix backcatalogue for other artists, with reworkings of Displacer, Empusae and Suicide Inside appearing amongst the 15 tracks featured here. From the very outset, Tremorin’ love of dark-hued ambient / downbeat practitioners such as Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze is clearly evident here, particular in the opening reworking of Polygon’ “Gestern’, which slowly emerges from the ominous sampled sounds of a gathering thunderstorm into a dark piece of atmospheric electronic noir, the distant background trail of sampled Deutsch conversation being slowly infiltrated by the dripping sounds of water as moody bass pads sweep back and forth against subtle rattling textures.
By contrast, Thermidor’ “Plenum Aquae’ sees the unsettling sound of wind almost resembling the slow exhalation of some giant creature, before questing synth pads lead things down into a vast, Dead Can Dance-esque whirl of massed tribal percussion, while the hiphop-tinged relentlessly slow industrial crunch of Eretsua’ “Travelling Light’s sits somewhere between Daniel “Haujobb / Architect’s Myers’ dark IDM explorations and the bleak digital landscapes of Massive Attack’ “100th Window.’ While the predominant mood here leans towards darkly atmospheric downbeat sounds, there are also some concessions made towards more energetic, dance-friendly bpms here, with Tremorin’ reworking of Prospero’ “Contagion & Rebirth’ kicking the pace up towards industrial-edged quasi-junglist rhythms, complete with buzzing machine noise and eerie, reverbed-out screams, before OTX’ closing “Blood For Oil’ takes things out amidst a rattling barrage of 4/4 kickdrums, in what’s easily the most techno-oriented offering here. An impressive and diverse collection that more than meets the levels of quality I’ve come to expect from Tympanik, that’s made all the better by Eye.Lyft’s classy blue foil-embossed sleeve art. It’s apparently limited to a run of just 777 copies too, so move fast.
