Articles
Robert Henke
Deepchord and Soultek

Albums
Amoebazoid
Boy Is Fiction
BTB
Calika
Vic Chesnutt
Enrico Coniglio
Eric Copeland
Deadbeat
Deepchord : Echospace
Ditch
Terrence Dixon
Brian Ellis
Reinhold Friedl
The Green Kingdom
Marc Hannaford
Hrsta
K. Leimer
Lights Out Asia
Nebula 3
Netherworld
Le Peuplier de Simon
Po
Portable
Lou Reed
Jeffrey Roden
Skallander
Swod
Gregory Taylor
Telephone Jim Jesus
Pau Torres
Tunng
Rolan Vega
Robert Vincs
Warmth
Otomo Yoshihide

Compilations / Mixes
Sander Kleinenberg
One Point Two
Total 8

3"/ 7"/ 10"/ 12"/ EPs
Adultnapper
Arrow!!!
Ascoltare
Beneva vs. Clark Nova
Cinematic Orchestra
Deepchord : Echospace
Easy Changes
Fink
Peter Grummich
The Heavy
Isomer Transition
Laptik
Larytta
Nadja
Pendle Coven
Polvere
Redhooker
Spied
Andy Stott
Torrance & Hochstrate
Andy Vaz

The Green Kingdom: The Green Kingdom
SEM

Pastoral electroacoustic soundscaping of the most evocative and enveloping kind, The Green Kingdom's (Detroit-based graphic designer and sound artist Mike Cottone) self-titled album inaugurates the SEM label in fine style. Sampled textures and field recordings, melting organ chords, tinkling melodies, and cascades of acoustic and electric guitars establish becalmed ambiance throughout the album's nine settings. Electronic ‘noise' is present but not abrasively so; instead, it functions as atmospheric texture, like the rippling static that courses through “Broken Moonbeam” like the crackle of a dying campfire, and the lapping pitter-patter that suggests raindrops in “Cherry Sunrise.” Soft insect noises in “Amniopod” suggest a forest setting while the song's sparkling melodies glisten like sunlight reflecting off a pond's surface. The longest piece, the penultimate “Nocturne2,” pushes beyond the ten-minute mark but Cottone deftly sculpts a beautifully modulated flow throughout. The spirited “Cherry Sunrise” sometimes rises to a near-gallop but the album otherwise opts for meditative ambiance. That The Green Kingdom remains captivating throughout its near hour-long duration despite rarely straying from its bucolic style testifies to the material's superior quality.

September 2007