Nigel Samways / Ennio Mazzon – E Loops/Trade Variations
From various releases on labels such as Resting Bell to his latest – and by the way excellent – contribution to the cronicaster series, Ennio Mazzon is no stranger to the experimental electronic music scene. His latest work, together with Nigel Samways, on his own Ripples Recordings label is no exception. His collaborator Nigel Samways can also look back at a beautiful set of releases on labels such as Experimedia, Ephre Imprint, Camomille or Hibernate.
The first piece starts off a little too easily at first; a gently flowing drone moves beneath a sea of clanks, noises and fieldrecordings – absolutely beautiful, but quite conservative in its execution. Nothing that grabs me completely, but as the track moves on, the the material gets more dense and adds more texture and impact. Still, the first piece sounds more like an introduction than an actual track especially in comparison to the rest of the album.
The second piece with its hushed and washed out melody that lingers in the background buried under reverb and gentle fuzz offers a harmonic quality equal to Fennesz’ Endless Summer period. This is an absolutely mesmerizing pull that just drowns you into a looping maelstrom of sound. The following tracks manage to follow that direction, although they don’t reach such emotional heights as the second one. Nevertheless “e loop3” and “e loop4” still manage to keep an incredibly high level in regards to sound and harmony. Especially the last track with its tinkly, dancing piano dribbles, which make way for the grandezza string finale of the record, is simply gorgeous. Like every other Ripples Recordings release, “E Loops/Trade Variations” is a great album. Although with its running time clocking in just above the 26 minutes mark, it could be definitively a couple of tracks longer.
