Various Artists – Cronica L (Cronica)

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Cronica celebrates their 50th release with L, a compilation pairing 18 Cronica artists into collaborations. This results in 9 new compositions, exploring various facets of the label’s approach to hazy, electro-acoustic sound art.

While it’s difficult to pin Cronica down to a distinct sound, the artists here chiefly work in drones, in which field recording plays a significant part. And the quality is high throughout, from the motorised whine and static pops of Gilles Aubry and Paulo Raposo’s ‘Forms of Suspension’ through to the floor-shaking low-end rumble of Pure and Duran Vazquez’ aptly titled ‘Stoorm’.. Marc Behrens and Cem Guney employ an industrial grind, dappled in random clicks and glitch in ‘Mouth to Mouse’. Ran Slavin and Vitor Joaquim’s ‘Voices Over Water’ is predictably aquatic, waves of bass lapping against reverberant clanging and submerged voices.

Both Janek Schaeffer and Stephan Mathieu’s collaborations, with Enrico Coniglio and Piotr Kurek respectively, explore sounds familiar from their own collaboration Hidden Name, all rich, billowing synthetic drones, but they’re just out-blissed by bucolic closer ‘Reve General’ by The Beautiful Schizophrenic and Tu’M. Best of all though is Lawrence English and Stephen Vitiello’s ‘Circles of Twine’, a gorgeous evocation of a sub-tropical setting, sparse piano laid over the chirrup of birds and insects, cloaked in a dank forest glow. All great tracks.

Joshua Meggitt

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