Customer Reviews

Atol Scrap

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm a bit surprised at the negative (or less positive) reviews here. I am a big fan of autechre's earlier work (Amber through TR) and found this to be quite enjoyable. It is definitely more accessible than autechre. The music focuses on lonesome melodies and tasteful rhythms. I really get an indescribable feeling when I listen to this album...lonliness combined almost with wonder. It's kind of like a walk on a clear cold winter night during a full moon. Anyway, although this may not exhibit the complexity or abstraction of autechre's work, I still think it has a lot of value. I think it is a really smooth, consistent album. I usually like comparisons when I'm looking for new bands, so my closest comparison is "amber" (autechre). It's the closest album to this that I own, and therefore my best basis for comparison, so don't pick on me. Despite its obvious similarities to autechre, though, it really has a life and sound of its own. For anyone exploring the depths of IDM, I highly recommend this excellent album.

another reason to worship at the temple of berlin... arovane programs haunting tracks from (one presumes) his dark bedroom studio. i love both albums i've heard-- atol scrap is to autechre as tides is to boards of canada. atol scrap = more mechanistic, more jittery contorted beats but also unearthly bells clinging (ambelio-- sounds like not much else out there) & wistful melodies that evoke imaginary long-gone landscapes. 'thaem nue' is my favorite track. it makes me think of temples, solemn worship of the infinite, sadness but also wonder (as someone below said). for those with a taste for melancholy melodies & glitchy rhythms, this cannot be missed. so many days i would step outside my apartment when clouds where in the sky, smoke one cigarette and lose myself in glistening circuit paths & sounds of code, wonder & regret

Arovane is one of the most promising new-ish artists on the IDM block. After several obscure EPs on various labels, Arovane's full-length debut is most welcome. "Atol Scrap" is a gorgeous album on the ambient side of IDM. If I had to pick a logical precursor it would be Aphex Twin's "Selected Ambient Works Volume 1". On "Atol Scrap" the tempos are a bit more down-tempo, but the bright melodies are present along with simple rhythm structures. I also hear a lot of Brian Eno's ambient works here. Particularly, along the lines of his collaberation with Harold Budd, "The Pearl." Arovane's has a knack for counter-melody and harmony, resulting in highly listenable and engaging tracks. The percussion is a little bit on the simple side with the beats seeming serve only as pulse. This can be an advantageous if you're growing weary of the rhythm heavy workings of Autechre, Funkstorung, et all, these days.

With his sense of melody and pioneering spirit I think there's a good chance Arovane could become one of the heavy-weights in contemporary IDM. He's already released another album, "Tides", which is even better. Its a micro-release but readily available at places like Forced Exposure.

For now start with "Atol Scrap" and be regaled with hypnotic melody.

The CD focuses not on the laid back melodies of "icol diston" or "Tides", (the latter being no more than a theme album IMHO) instead consists of more abstract, fluid beats which are no less determined then Kraftwerk alongside ace progression. The melodies are delicate and intricate, not overbearing. Nearly gone are the lush pad/strings, leaving only ghostly processed versions of their former selves. Although Zahn is a fan of hardware-only music production, with "Atol Scrap"s strange stylistic twists, one cannot help but draw comparisons to the current crop of glitch-hop laptop musicians.

Many of the tracks are in different time signatures, (although some 4/4 still remain, similar to "icol diston") which may be what some reviewers refer to as "dry". But this is hardly a downside to Zahn's style... Nor has all of this genre been "done better by Autechre".

"IDM" should not consist of standard formulae: "Atol Scrap" is lovely music, regardless, and I would dare to say has staying value in this notoriously short-lived genre.

Arovane (a.k.a. Uwe Zahn) has created with Atol Scrap a phenomenal success of an album. Thos who have found Autechre's more recent work to be too experimental and not musical enough will especially enjoy this one. Atol Scrap is loaded with Ae-influenced rhythms and cut up sounds, but it flouishes the most with its melodies and melancholy moods. Not since Autechre's "Tri Repetae" or "Garbage" has a mix of beautifully honest melodies and digitized, heavily worked rhythms surfaced so well done. Granted, the best tracks weigh in toward the start of the CD, but there some beautiful ambient pieces toward the center as well. Gracefully crossing over between soothing ambience (a la Aphex Twin ambient works, vintage Autechre) and technical precision (Musik Aus Strom, latter day Ae), Atol Scrap certainly gives the entire IDM circle something to talk about.

If there are any fans of Loscil, Murcof, or even Autechre reading this, consider Arovane a close relation, both in terms of style and substance.

Anyone else think the title "Atol Scrap" refers to the leftovers of the Bikini Atoll US nuclear detonations?

Warm electronic melodies mixed with fractured, skittering beats -- it's what you've come to expect from IDM, and Arovane delivers the goods with Atol Scrap. There's no doubt that it's lovely to listen to, but it doesn't quite have that indescribable quality that lifts it above and beyond the IDM field. I can't put my finger on what it is exactly -- but it's just short of what I'd deem a classic.

Atol Scrap is Arovane's first full length release, following several EP's and a couple of singles. One would think that German born Uwe Zahn would pull off a gem of an IDM release, but somehow he comes up short.

The percussion is blatantly dry, being only a metronome in disguise and you get the feeling it was put there for no good reason. It usually does little to enhance the tracks and the percussive sounds on tracks like 'scapen te' and 'r/elet' actually make those tracks weaker. There's sufficient depth to the recording however, as Arovane is known for from previous releases (which I recommend). Tracks like 'ambelio' and 'thaem nue' are good reflective, downtempo cuts, but they also lack the depth of some previous Arovane releases.

This is the only Arovane release so far that's easy to get a hold of, and one of the few Arovane releases that's not on vinyl. However, if you can get the excellent "Tides" release, you should definately snatch it up in a hurry. Atol Scrap on the other hand, has limited appeal. Disappointing.

Take a little Boards of Canada (specifically their more experimental tracks like sixtyten)... quite a bit of Autechre, and (if you've been lucky enough to actually hear his flecking (sic :) amazing material) some Bola, and you have this. And yet, even then Arovane is more than able to define a sound of his own.

In Atol Scrap we have 64 minutes of somewhat quiet, slow, rhythmic and slightly quirky ambient IDM. Listening music, head-music, whatever you wish to call it, this is intelligent and engaging stuff.

I can't say I'm disapointed in this cd because my expectations were low, but I'm sorry I bought it. Thats not to say its a bad cd, but it is more than a little boring. There isn't anything on here that we haven't seen done better by AE (though admittedly more mechanically and clinicaly). I can see why people might like it, but I have a large enough variety of electronic stuff that this doesn't make much of an impression on me. If you enjoy laid back AEish kind of sounds, I STRONGLY suggest you run out and buy Phonem's Hydro Electric. you can get it at www.bentcrayon.com