Maybe the pencil would be an excellent image. As the softest of all writing implement, it is always close to vanishing, to being wiped or erased. Maybe this album, if were a painting would not be oil on canvas but rather a pencil drawing. White on grey. Reduced and open at first sight. Rich in details and playful on closer examination. A lot happens within seclusion. It happens between the sounds of this fourth album, Plans Drawn in Pencil that ISAN (Antony Ryan and Robin Saville) have recorded for Morr Music.
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Is Discontinued By Manufacturer
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No
Product Dimensions
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4.92 x 5.51 x 0.35 inches; 1.76 ounces
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Sure, ISAN have a distinctive palette of sonic tools and melodic theory from which they rarely diverge. But how many great albums do most groups produce? This duo has consistently delivered. Imagine relaxing on the Danube on a clear day with little puffy clouds wafting along when suddenly your favorite music box from your childhood lazily floats by atop a clean, clear iceberg. What is this iceberg doing in here in the middle of summer? Pastels and primaries reflect through this ice cube and woo you into a dream state where you hear every leaf fall, and every dripping faucet, and they are all aligned in an accidental symphony. Not to say that Isan are scoring on accident. It takes four gifted ears to make something both pleasant and challenging, simultaneously deep and simple. This is like dragging a giant record needle slowly around a Zen rock garden. I hope Eno is listening. If you like ISAN then I suggest some Audio Dregs Recordings artists as well.
While the landscape of "dreamy" electronica has been quite flooded in the last several years there will always be those that rise above the flock in any crowded genre, and Isan are one of the few who do indeed float high above most of their peers. What makes Isan so special is the songs, using their laptops and keyboards to create airy melodies and lovely lucid washes of sound. While so many of their contemporaries have added forced vocals on top of their sounds, often big name guests, in order to break into the "next level" we're happy that Isan have kept it purely instrumental, as the songs they write feel totally complete as-is and allow us, as listeners, to bring more of our imagination to the songs. There are definite similarities to like minded and former label mates Mum, especially their first primarily instrumental debut, as well fleeting glimpses of Boards of Canada at their most blissed out, and perhaps like a less skeletal version of Colleen. We also keep thinking a lot about how Isan in many ways represent this generation's version of Durruti Column. Delicate instrumentals made with a graceful touch and an invitation to float freely.
The bucolic electronic of Isan has drawn them comparisons to Boards of Canada, but that's misleading. _Plans Drawn in Pencil_ has the simple schematic design as the title suggest. Their melodies are clean and relatively unadorned ("Ship"); oftentimes, percussion is nothing more than a simple tick ("Look and Yes"). The oscillating "Yttrium" sounds as rarefied as the element after which it's named, while "Amber Button" has some interesting decay mechanics before filling in. You'd expect a track named "Roadrunner" to race ahead, but this isn't the case. Instead, it builds sonically, in careful layers. The tracks are simple and pleasant, but can still convey a range of emotional states: "Stickland" carries a certain sadness, for example. While nothing on this album has the pure wow factor, it still manages to be a pleasing listening experience.
(07.08.06) ISAN make very nice music. They have the lightest, crispest percussion in the universe and layer cheerful melodies over soothing chords. The beats are never in your face, the bass tones are soft and rounded. For me they're something like the aural equivalent of high quality chocolates - every chocolate tastes great, but the sweetness gets a bit much too consume in one sitting.
Plans Drawn In Pencil shows no great diversion from what ISAN have done before, but if you're looking for some relaxed electronica and are tired of your Boards of Canada records, this is a safe bet.
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