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Canadian-based label Interchill Records has been releasing music since the mid-1990's and has trodden its own quietly idiosyncratic path. Co-founders Andrew Ross-Collins and Gordon Field have kept things varied, using quality as their filter rather than committing the label to any one strain of downtempo. The earliest releases Magnetic Blue, Interior Horizons and Infinessence are diverse and intriguing compilations. All nicely mix up the Canadian artists with internationals and sounds range from expansive drifting melodies to stuttering drum'n'bass grooves. Seasoned downtempo fans will recognise a few names here like Sounds From The Ground and Legion Of Green Men. There is plenty of subtle fresh twists on familiar dub, tribal, nu jazz and spacemusic sounds - these albums still sound like they were released yesterday. Floatation and the more recent Sanctuary are Interchill's quietest compilations and a good starting point for fans of more "pure" strains of ambient. They are not quite what you would call minimal, however; their sound is rather too intricate to be compared with the similarly quiet old-school ambient of Eno and company. Floatation is full of soft light and luminous colours. The tracks by Adham Shaikh and Mere Mortals particularly show a flair for gorgeous liquid melodies. Sanctuary is more of a DJ mix and of its ten tracks eight of them are from previous Interchill releases. The opening trio by Adham Shaikh, Suns Of Arqa and Mere Mortals are expertly mixed and layered into a long, completely seamless Vedic journey through tamboura drones, native vocal effects and fantastic flute improvisations. Familiar elements to be sure, but elevated by the musicianship and confidence of composers not trying too hard to be exotic. From there onwards the mix gently swings between beatless and gently rhythmic, with simple crossfades stitching the tracks together. Highlights include UK composer Ishq with his subtle, floating Zen-like meditation "Yu" that shows his uniquely beautiful way with female vocal samples. Also from the UK is Gaudi with a fresh and highly creative re-assembling of world music sounds. Earth Octave Lounge volume 1 is the first and best in a series that marks a move into retro lounge territory. It covers this type of ground in a smarter and fresher fashion than the majority of lounge comps that coming out of Europe these days. There's dub, nu jazz, funk and Delta blues, and lots of warm sounds from saxophone, oboe, flute and harmonica. 13th Moon is billed as the label's first compilation on psychedelic trance tip, but that depends somewhat on how you define as trance. I'd define it as layered, repeating arpeggios and that applies to only a minority of the tracks here. The most dominant sound is big breakbeats and thick dub grooves with just a single melody line and floaty backdrops. It's a fine Interchill compilation even if some it is aimed squarely at the dancefloor. The album's storming highlight is "Neon Tetra" by UK duo Umberloid (a side project of gifted UK artist Ott). It's an amazing euphoric rush of Eastern wailing, driving tribal dub and heavenly layered chords topped off with breaks of flamenco strumming. Dissolving Clouds takes the label in yet another direction, this time towards dub-based music. Dub has become a wonderfully eclectic, elastic soundworld in the hand of modern electronic producers and this compilation is right on the money. Like most exotic dub comps a few tracks show a fairly clear linage to Jamaica ("Digimunk" by Eiji) but many cleverly reconstruct the elements (the bleepy futuristic lounge of Peyote Sound System). Intensity-wise, Eat Static is the winner with the huge, crunching sci-fi dub of "UFO Over Trenchtown". Ambient fans will enjoy the subtle ethno-dub stylings of Gaudi & Tripswitch's "Subdown" and Alex Theory's "Voodoo Dub" with its weirdly beautiful vocal wail. A fascinating collection of dubby downtempo with a healthy dose of left-field strangeness. Interchill's catalogue also boasts some outstanding artist albums including the extraordinary ambient of Orchid (2002) by Ishq and the confident, tuneful world beat of Walking Through (2004) and Elixer (2005) by Kaya Project. |
