Customer Reviews

Certain Distance

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I'm personally impressed by electronic artists that really find a way to differentiate themselves. So much electronic music can become formulaic and sub-genres of electronic music can blur to all sounding very similar (which is not in itself a bad thing). Lusine sounds distinct to me. I can often hear his music and know it is him even if I haven't heard the particular track before. The danger with that for some artists is that they just continue to produce the same stuff - their sound doesn't evolve. Or, they lose their distinct sound as they try and move their music forward and the things that make them unique and identifiable are lost. With 'A Certain Distance' Lusine has pushed his own boundaries, evolved and expanded his production palate but it still sounds distinctly Lusine. This is a beautiful and well produced album, worthy of many, many listens. Another artist I'm really excited to see at the Decibel Festival in Seattle, WA next weekend.

Has Lusine turned almost pop? Well, not quite. If so, then pop music has never sounded so good! But peel back the vocals from the foreground, appearing on a few tracks by Vilja Larjosto and Caitlin Sherman, and we are left with the good old electronic sound of Lusine, known for his lush ambient soundscapes, organic catchy melodies, and solid punchy beats. With his 9th full length album, A Certain Distance, Jeff McIlwain continues to evolve his production skills, articulate composition, and unique staple sound, creating a downtempo album, with a lighter upbeat feel. Jeff has been releasing music on a variety of prominent labels, entering the spotlight since his 1999 debut, L'usine. When his music reaches InterContinentaL barriers, he appends an ICL suffix to his alias. Hence, all of his releases on the German Hymen label are under Lusine ICL, including my absolute favorite ambient marvel, and a top favorite of Headphone Commute's from 2007, Language Barrier (Hymen, 2007). The Lusine moniker appears mostly on all domestic labels, such as Ghostly International. Over the contemplating chord progression and occasional vocoder phrases, familiar elements introduced in the above mentioned Language Barrier, appear in a subliminal field of sound. These are the ambient pads, accented with microscopic percussion bits, creased into crumbled lo-fi beats, and smoothed out on a sonic surface. Just as the vocoder maps the frequencies of sampled voice over synthesized chords, Lusine succeeds in "mapping human emotions via technology". The Two Dots EP released by Ghostly prior to the album, has set expectations for Certain Distance, with its memorable hook completely consuming my auditory memory until I admitted my defeat on Headphone Commute's 20 EPs of 2009. The rest of the tracks on the album, deserve a 12" EP each on their own. Each is a unique exploration of the marriage between organic and laptop, downtempo and dancefloor, tech house and pop. Highly recommended.

Wow, this is amazing music. Two Dots says it all. Listen to the preview in and 30 seconds you'll know what I mean. My sources tell me Lusine is all the rage on the other side.

It is truly rare these days that one can buy an album and every song is perfect. This is one of those albums. Absolutely sublime sound. Well done. I would like another please.

I was really blown away by "serial hodgepodge" but now after hearing this CD that one does seem a lot more of a mishmash. "A Certain Distance" is articulate, relaxing, but very dance-worthy. Great stuff!