Articles
2007 Ten Favourite Labels
Backtracking Greg Davis
Shackleton Interview

Albums
John Luther Adams
Joseph Auer
Commix
Dartriix
Floratone
Furniture
Shuta Hasunuma
Richard Hawley
Hologram
Icarus
Kiln
Kobol
Labradford
Last Days
M83
Mai
Darren McClure
Near the Parenthesis
David Newlyn
Objekt4
OK Ikumi
Ontayso
Wendel Patrick
Phon°noir
Pocahaunted / Robedoor
Poostosh
Prefuse 73
Quosp
Rapoon
The Retail Sectors
Skull Disco
Socos
Supersilent
Tigrics
Trentemøller
Zuydervelt / Baars / Veld.

Compilations/Mixes
Airport Symphony
Devil in the Detail
Dinky
EXPANSION | contraction
Funckarma
Little Darla v. 25
One Five Zero
Playgroup / Alter Ego
Signal Path
Soul Jazz Singles
U-cover Mix 03 [IDM]
Ricardo Villalobos
We Are All Cotton-Hearted
Well Deep

3"/ 7"/ 10"/ 12"/ EPs
Basic Unit
Bodycode
Kit Clayton & Sutekh
Dartriix
Ditch
INKlings
Insanic4
Lackluster
Najem Sworb
Ontayso
Sutekh
The Tamborines
Telafonica
Zainetica

Icarus: Sylt
Rump

Without question, Icarus's electro-acoustic music is as arresting and as unusual as Sylt song-titles like “Rugkiks” and “Second Inf(e)rænce.” Even so, beneath its oft-hyperrhythmic, alien skin lies a not entirely unconventional musical soul, whether or not the material appears in the form of epic improvs or shorter pieces stitched together from live and studio edits. Sylt's most immediately distinguishing detail is simply the tracks' running times: two pieces, “First Inf(e)rænce” and “Second Inf(e)rænce,” were recorded live at Les Abbatoires, Toulouse in May, 2006, the second one immediately after the first, and comprise thirty-six minutes of the album's hour; the two are so dominant, they make the remaining five pieces seem like vignettes by comparison, despite the fact that they're engrossing too. Though Icarus partners Ollie Bown and Sam Britton hardly need help in generating dense masses of sound, Lothar Ohlmeier and Susie Winkworth sonically enliven two pieces with respective clarinet and cello contributions.

Given the extreme degree to which Sylt embraces fearless experimentalism, the fact that the duo's initial music-making took its inspiration from jungle and drum'n'bass can't help but startle. But even though Icarus's viral concoctions are now galaxies removed from those genres, a tangential connection to them is still audible in their material's frenzied percussive patterning. Moments of musique concrete, Indian, psychedelia, gamelan, free jazz, minimal techno, and avant-garde classical also surface during the music's perpetual metamorphosis, and, believe it or not, “Second Inf(e)rænce” even scatters a few moments of jittery funk across its mutating terrain.

December 2007