Leo Maymind wants our attention. The writer/DJ/electronic music producer believes music streaming is turning us all into hyper-demanding sound junkies, obsessed with novelty for its own sake.
In an effort to combat our ever-shrinking attention span, Illumina features six pieces so full of unexpected twists and turns that you won't dare press the skip button.
It works, mostly.
The tape opens with "Time Sift," a light, calming bit of electronic music writing that eases you in. There's enough going on here to keep you engaged, in particular a quietly intense section that, if recorded higher in the mix, would be tough to sit through, but it's quite the opposite.
"Rhymes with Island" comes next. It features the first really strong signal that Illumina isn't going to progress the way you'd expect. The elements are all there for a head-nodding ambient house track, but Maymind has no interest in that. You'll find this either ambitious and inspired, or uneven and frustrating; either way, your reaction to track two is likely to match your overall opinion of Illumina.
The tape's major work is "Third Nord," a kind of tribute to 1970s-era electronic music mixed with digital editing techniques made popular in the decade that followed. It's a bit of a reach, but then again, we can always use more of exactly that.
(Umor Rex)In an effort to combat our ever-shrinking attention span, Illumina features six pieces so full of unexpected twists and turns that you won't dare press the skip button.
It works, mostly.
The tape opens with "Time Sift," a light, calming bit of electronic music writing that eases you in. There's enough going on here to keep you engaged, in particular a quietly intense section that, if recorded higher in the mix, would be tough to sit through, but it's quite the opposite.
"Rhymes with Island" comes next. It features the first really strong signal that Illumina isn't going to progress the way you'd expect. The elements are all there for a head-nodding ambient house track, but Maymind has no interest in that. You'll find this either ambitious and inspired, or uneven and frustrating; either way, your reaction to track two is likely to match your overall opinion of Illumina.
The tape's major work is "Third Nord," a kind of tribute to 1970s-era electronic music mixed with digital editing techniques made popular in the decade that followed. It's a bit of a reach, but then again, we can always use more of exactly that.