Abstract Elements return to one of the founders of the Autonomic movement with two tracks that are a continuation of what shaped their stripped back, minimal approach to Autonomic and later what would be known as “Microfunk”.
Abstract Elements have released on labels such as Exit, ASC's Auxiliary and recently for Noisia's Invisible imprint.
Nedostatic and Right Way are what you would expect from such talented producers, with both attention to detail and precision execution in their dynamics.
Both tracks feature in dBridge and Kid Drama's “Heart Drive” podcast and followers of Exit Records and recent CNVX releases will find this to be right up their street!
Seren's Theme and What We Got feature all the trademark sounds and emotions that made the collaboration between Instra mental & dBridge work so well. Skittering percussion and lush chords blanket warm brooding bass layers with What We Got, featuring some classic dBridge vocals. Fans will have heard these out and about in mixes over the last 10+ years and now get to own them on limited vinyl and digital.
Kid Drama returns to his label for the first time this year after the well received Ideal Form EP, he continues with his trademark infused mix of autonomic and 90s tech step to create the 2010 Again EP.
4 Tracks steeped in nostalgic yet forward thinking production. The title track, 2010 Again, sees Drama draw for the infamous ‘Instra:mental’ drums with metallic thumps and fizzing sub bass frequencies interlaced with occasional delicate glimmers of light.
Next up is Diazedaze, which will take you drifting off on a lazy day, sit back and just watch the world rush past you. This one will pull on the heart strings of any autonomic fan with its trademark keys and melodic chords.
Pivot is an 8 minute journey which goes against the current disposable, quick hit club style tunes of today. Drawn out like a long unfolding trip, which could quite easily be the lovechild of Matrix and Krust, the progessive bass stabs and zaps build without any breakdown over the span of the track. A hypnotic almost technolike offering.
The final track, Thoughtcast 7, again sees Drama shun conventional mixes as he pushes the drums to the back of the mix with a thin skeletal framework sitting on a subsonic 808 bed. Drama said his inspiration for the tune was drawn from a lot of Moving Shadow’s catalogue through the 90’s with his own unique twist.
All in all another cohesive and solid selection from the CNVX stable.
2015 has been busy for producer Damon Kirkham, in the space of a year he as released singles as Kid Drama and Heart Drive (alongside dBridge) a solo album under the guise of “Mikarma” and also played a big role in two collaborative albums on Exit Records “The Binary Collective” & “Module Eight” projects, and thats just within the “Autonomic” 170bpm bracket. For CNVX005 he returns as Kid Drama with “Auto State of Mind”.
The title track is a nod back to the beginnings of the Autonomic sound and his work as one half of “Instra:mental”, the signature Instra:mental drum work and lush strings and keys sit the track alongside Pacifc Heights and Sakura and is a must for anyone who followed the early works on Darkestral and Nonplus. Mumble sees Drama collaborate with the mysterious “Hands Like Crime” again, this time recruiting him for vocals. The track rolls out with an 808 spine and detuned Moog square wave bass with lush Pink Floyd-esq vocals drifting over the top.
Again, another release from the man with a million aliases that will appeal to lovers of electronic music as a whole.
Kirkham's newest album comes in the form of a project under a new identity; Mikarma.
The album is a cathartic project for the accomplished electronic musician. A catharsis of emotion coupled with a restriction in studio equipment that leads to new creative means and avenues. Speaking on the reasons of the self-imposed minimal studio set up he states "Sometimes when you have too much equipment wired up it can be overwhelming and you end up just playing around for the most part."
It become apparent that there was a need for the producer to get the best out of his parameters, a process he was already familiar with "When we started back in the 90's we had a minimal setup... and because of that you would get the most you could out of each bit of kit."
Kirkham goes on to elaborate on the cathartic nature of the album "Breaking up in a relationship with the woman you love is a really draining emotional experience, I'm a person who finds it hard to outwardly express my emotions, I hold it in which is pretty unhealthy but i think writing music releases some of the pressure built up. The sad thing is my best work is normally when I'm at my lowest."
Kirkham's newest album comes in the form of a project under a new identity; Mikarma.
The album is a cathartic project for the accomplished electronic musician. A catharsis of emotion coupled with a restriction in studio equipment that leads to new creative means and avenues. Speaking on the reasons of the self-imposed minimal studio set up he states "Sometimes when you have too much equipment wired up it can be overwhelming and you end up just playing around for the most part."
It become apparent that there was a need for the producer to get the best out of his parameters, a process he was already familiar with "When we started back in the 90's we had a minimal setup... and because of that you would get the most you could out of each bit of kit."
Kirkham goes on to elaborate on the cathartic nature of the album "Breaking up in a relationship with the woman you love is a really draining emotional experience, I'm a person who finds it hard to outwardly express my emotions, I hold it in which is pretty unhealthy but i think writing music releases some of the pressure built up. The sad thing is my best work is normally when I'm at my lowest."
