Articles
Jefrey Leighton Brown
Label: Community Library
Vaz: Days of Yore

Albums
A Sunny Day in Glasgow
Badun
Jefrey Leighton Brown
The Buoys
Christmas Decorations
Cinematic Orchestra
Colour Kane
David Daniell
Electricwest
Formication
Philip Glass
Erdem Helvacioglu
Jasper TX
Khan
Jasper Leyland
Lichens
A A Mexicano
Milieu
Oid
oto
Ola Podrida
Andrew Pekler
Person
Pole
Project Perfect
Reanimator
Rubens
Stephen Scott
Silencio
Strategy
Tare / Brekkan
Tarwater
Terminal Sound System
Unit 21
Valet
Yellow6

Compilations / Mixes
Cielo
Deep Sea Shipping
Luke Fair
Flight 18
DJ Food and DK
DJ Kentaro
Modeone
Steve Porter

3"/ 7"/ 10"/ 12"/ EPs
B33P3R
Cheju
Deerhunter
Foxhole
K_Chico
The Magic Lantern
Jon McMillion
Myers Briggs
Niederflur
Person
Questions in Dialect
Samarkande/Obliv. Ens.
Sonje
Soporus
VeeBeeO
Vestigial
Rick Wade
.xtrak

Milieu: Remodelled
Boltfish

More electronic music from Boltfish, with this particular installment by Columbia , South Carolina resident Brian Grainger (aka Milieu) entitled Remodelled. Available in two formats (a 15-track CD or 17 tracks spread across four 3-inch discs), Grainger's collection opens with the barrelhouse rabble-rouser “Hidden Paths,” thereby suggesting that it may range farther afield than the average Boltfish recording. Unfortunately, like many an electronic producer, Grainger has a soft spot for Boards of Canada and cuts like “Forest (Fast Edit)” and “As Summer Blooms” show he's hardly shy about acknowledging the influence. Here and elsewhere, woozy synth and Rhodes melodies float over crisp hip-hop-flavoured beats in that by-now-familiar BofC style. Even when the beats depart from the template (as they both frenetically and funkily do on “Bike Trail 2” and “Lazer Rinq”), the Warp duo's signature gauzy melodies are never far away. A swinging hip-hop thrust starts “Thrum” promisingly, for example, but the song too-quickly reverts to familiar form while “Snowhill” is pretty much a BofC interlude. Not surprisingly, the most satisfying moments are those when Milieu's sound takes a step towards divesting itself of those derivative qualities (e.g., the livelier, up-tempo attack in “Pileus (Infinite Edit)”). There's no denying the album's overall quality but there's no denying either the overly derivative character of the music. Had Grainger pushed his music in a more unique direction, and furthermore edited the album's running time down from its current 72 minutes to a more svelte 50 or thereabouts, Remodelled would impress more than it currently does.

May 2007