Vortex Traks Vinyl & CDs

Review: You've heard of quasars, but do you know what a collapsar is? Producer Analogous Doom, debuting her lyrical IDM/electro record for the emergent Berlin label Vortex Traks here, aims to challenge us listeners with this exact noggin-scratcher of a question. The artist also known by her own name Vanna Carr aims to provoke in the listener a deep reverence for the natural phenomena that surround and determine us, up to and including those of a cosmic scale. Starting out micro and ending up macro, Carr looks around and discovers the 'Vela', her native 'Brackish Beings' who possess an innately cold, littoral way about them. Finding her locality insufficient, she looks to the stars, where she spies 'A Pinpoint Of Light', which turns out to be a 'Collapsar', otherwise defined as a star that has undergone gravitational collapse. After some further sonic musings on fluxion and quark matter, she reconciles to her earthbound standpoint, gazing out over the zodiac 'Gegenschein' phenomenon: a faint glowing region in the night sky, caused by dust particles that reflect the backscatter of sunlight. Exactly the kind of ideas we love explored on an electro album!

Review: Matti Turunen is no stranger to Vortex Traks as he had previously dropped music here and appeared on the label's very first release and also later as part of Morphology. This, however, is his solo debut and it's a classy exploration of melodic electro. 'Tharsis' kicks off with lithe synths and sheet metal sounds flapping in a stiff cosmic wind. 'Pavonis' is deeper and more heady, 'Arsia' is built on neck-snapping drum patterns and 'Ascraeus' rides on plaintive pads. Last but not least is a collaboration with Dora Gray, 'Daedalia', which is an ambient-laced delight.