Mark Fell

Released more or less in tandem with Multistability (his effort for Raster-Noton), UL8 is named for a brand of stereo speaker Fell's older brother owned growing up. He recalls a fascination with their reproduction of electronic sounds from groups like Kraftwerk and Human League. The album, which progresses in three suites, plus an epilogue, is a synthesized love letter to this early exposure to electronic sound, though recorded through the filter of a career in experimentation. The first third, "The Occultation of 3C 273," concentrates on the pinprick precision of minimalism that informed his early albums as SND. "Vortex Studies" concerns itself more with modulated waveforms and sweeps, in all their insectoid glory. "Acids in the Style of Rian Treanor" applies imaginary numbers to the squelchy world of house music, with predictably unpredictable results. A little academic leaning, it is nonetheless an album that expresses devotion within synthetic relationships.