Echo Conscious - Emotional Patterns (Harmonious Discord)

What do many past releases on Harmonious Discord have in common? They are all blessed by the multi-alias shape shifter Echo Conscious (Molecule, Dorian). Brad Dale is a full-time sound engineer and head of the label's mastering strategy. In addition, he is an early shaper of the Harmonious Discord sound. However, this time, Brad is the one changing shape. Emotional Patterns is an 11-track exploration of the deep understanding that Brad has for sonic invention predicated by his work as a mastering engineer, audio instrument designer, and film soundtrack composer. In this album, Brad steps away from the console and into an expansive palette, infusing his love of dub electronics, UK bass beat construction, and catchy melody hooks.

"Now Then" bursts the project into existence with fluttering circus melodies and rough and rumble kick construction. "1997" follows with blissful synth intros before cascading to an expertly crafted liquid jungle beat. Melodic dancing abounds as chimes collide with synthesis amid a backdrop of mellotron tension. "Blue Berry" follows trend flexing stuttered vocal programming with a dial into dubbier constructs. "Mycelium" dives deep into theory, as the main rhythm pattern is an electronic impulse measured from a mycelium network. Looped, applied to a kick drum and side-chained. "Daughter" delivers rich piano interplays on top of lush soundscapes and is layered periodically with cut-up home sampling. The album's namesake, "Emotional Patterns", derives strong feelings of anger, excitement, and bliss. Starting with thundering kicks and bass accompanied by dark synth melodies, suddenly shift into light rhode-laden reprises. "Orbital Sunrise" plays deeper on the melodic tension, cycling through lush beds, mellotron patterns, and dub percussion, giving it the lofi downtempo feel with a hint of edge. "Acrosonic" resets with a tine-tinged piano melody that dances with processed and reversed synth calls. This aerial display bubbles into floating arpeggios as the underlying patterns rotate and combine. "Season No More" enters a somber realm, expertly captured piano artifacts in contrast with the mounting arpeggios and washes of cinematic drums. "Space Squirrel" enters with a playful coloring, driving the drum programming into the IDM atmosphere only anchored by the signature drum construction. "Arrive" lands in an expansive atmosphere with pulsating radio waves and synergisticly melodic swells. This album is deserving of a listen from beginning to end, a true testament to a life of sonic creation.

Nick Warren (Hope Recordings) – “This is a cracking album.”
Rory Hoy (Super Hi-Fi) – “An extremely creative and original album.”
Adrian Lugo (WEFT 90.1 FM) – “Solid album. Quirky production gives it’s sense of airiness while still hitting kind of hard. On Air support.”
DJ Firefly (WRCT 88.3 FM) – “Love all the creative details on here.”
DJ Doubles (Freestyle Fusion / Urgent FM) – “Love this! Joyful, emotive and greacefully diverse.”
Hober Mallow (Mighty Reel Show) – “Love this. Incredible sequencing. Just really fresh vibes all the way, will support here.”

Available Now From: Bandcamp, Beatport, Apple Music, And Spotify.

Mind over MIDI - Control (Beatservice Records)

Electronic music maestro Mind Over MIDI makes a welcome return to Beatservice Records, presenting 11 immersive tracks on the breathtaking new album, Control.

Hailing from Kristiansund on the northwest coast of Norway, Helge Tømmervåg has been crafting scintillating electronic sounds since the early '80s. His earliest work recorded under the now-familiar Mind Over MIDI moniker arrived in the early '90s. A long-standing affiliation with Beatservice extends as far back as 1995, when — following a few compilation entries — he first signed for the imprint. Helge has released scores of highly regarded and stylistically uncompromising sounds over the years, appearing on labels including Silent Seasons, Diametric, Hibernate, Whitelabrecs, ROHS! Lontano Series and via his own Berserk Fabrik. After releasing five albums on Beatservice, he took an extended hiatus from the label back in 2005, but happily returned to the fold in 2020 with the acclaimed Gimsøy, Lofoten EP1 and EP2.

Control sees Mind Over MIDI back in long-playing action, with his sixth album for Beatservice proving every bit as mesmerizing as those which preceded it. Arriving like a crisp Arctic sunrise, the collection begins with the icy swells of "Fragile", with dramatic pads stealthily morphing over stripped machine drums and sub-rooted bass to provide the most tantalizing of openers.

"Denial" marks an incremental increase in energy levels, with captivating synth textures gorgeously blended over gently rolling rhythms and growling bass to form a powerfully cinematic soundscape. Stein Bjercke provides his distinctive vocal gravity on the track "Control", the music brooding with ominous intensity as wintry waves crash against frosty moonlit shores.

The evocative tones continue into "Regret", where intricate synth threads are precisely woven across a bed of broken drums as phasing pads arrive like a shimmering mist to envelop the delicate tapestry. Next, we effortlessly glide into the dreamlike textures and sparkling rhythms of "Absence", with its opiate harmonics and slowly evolving melodies gracefully emerging through the brisk northern haze.

Stein Bjercke once again enters the stage on the captivating swirls of "Disappear", his timeless vocal echoing into the infinite oneness as metallic drones hover over sparse drums for a profoundly atmospheric inward journey. Evoking a striking sense of mystery, the haunting synth melodies of "Forgotten" bewitch as they sail over gyrating drums for a faintly jarring moment of unflinching reflection.

Augmenting the introspection, the aerial drift of "Surrender" languidly pulses across unfamiliar landscapes, as undulating pads rise over hypnotic drums and low-pitched drones. Submerging still deeper, the dubbed-out topography of "Let It Go" sees Oddman's indelible vocal aching with sincerity as his solemn lyrics permeate the darkened horizon.

The shimmering arpeggios of "Close" steadily morph through breathy harmonics for a soul-soothing interlude, before the closing track "Vanish" caps a beguiling album in suitably esoteric style. Here, fizzing cymbals guide shadowy melodies across a pre-dawn panorama, remaining almost out of sight as secretive synth harmonies whisper into the distance.

This enthralling collection is nothing less than a tour de force from Mind Over MIDI. Ethereal yet powerfully dense, the morphing sonics are equipped with enough force to permeate the sternest of souls as they echo through and beyond the psycho-spiritual abyss.

Charles Leonard Corcho (Selekta Chang) – “Nice and ambient. I like ‘Let It Go’ with the vocal styling of Oddman.”
Eric Shans (3Bridge Records) – “Deep & hypnotic. Nice stuff. Reminiscent of some early 90s ambient which I love.”
Spaceotter (Camp Conception) – “Disappear is really something special. An actual worthy vocal, a rich elder male voice so gorgeously blended into a track. Just breathtaking...I'm smitten.”
Tim Angrave (The Chillout Lounge Mix) – “Difficult to choose a favorite track. A stunning release.”
Simon Kirk (Stag Beetle radio show) – “A deep and richly textured album. I can see some of these being used as openers. Wonderful.”
Hober Mallow (Mighty Reel) – “More amazing music from Beatservice. Deep in a rainy week here in Sydney and this is a perfect soundscape for that. Will support on upcoming shows here. Always a joy to hear such deep spaced out and emotive sounds.”

Available Now From: Bandcamp, Beatport, Apple Music, And Spotify.

PointBender - Violaceous (Harmonious Discord)

Music creation is not all hype and roses, and few understand that as deeply as Harmonious Discord owner and synthesizer composer Sean Anderson aka PointBender. His fourth artist album is a two-and-a-half-year journey into a growing studio discipline formed by a worldwide pandemic. In a time when humans felt so lost, the importance of being close to music and the artist community was a healing force that was ever-powerful. Calm, almost serene at times, to points approaching mania. Sean encompasses the entirety of the spectrum of human emotion in sound.

Violaceous is a journey through deeply moody ambient, heady electro, and boundary-bending house and techno music. Creative concertos process moments of joy, grief, and experimentation. This stand-alone album offers a musical listening experience all its own. From the ambient and melodic beginnings of "Conflict" and "SY35" — which feature live clarinet instrumentation, experimental synth applications, and manipulated field recordings — to the deeply textured electro offering "CBD." For "Agent of Peace," we see PointBender partner with longtime collaborator KiloWatts for beautifully constructed ivory implantations that elevate the bliss factor. "Plastic Cities" is an homage to the early Plastic City sound, featuring the vocals of Suza Kanon who originally released recordings with Sean on the Guidance and Fair Park imprints. Shifting powers to more playful arenas is "Mistakes Are OK," a fun and bass-centric smooth mover that progresses into haunting overtones. Keeping it light, the undeniable weightlessness of "The Bells Found Me Motionless" collides staggered bells, growing pad tension, and sonically special drums into a growing cacophony of layers. Capping off our ascent is "Altocumulus," an homage to early hard techno composed on all hardware and recorded linearly in real-time with friend Harmon Giddles. The final descent offers a sonic reminder of forgiveness and understanding channeled through a synth-driven ambient outro.

Violaceous, a collection of creative curiosities, aims to please the ears and at times tickle the cerebrum, a familiar formula from PointBender.

Alvaro Hylander (DeepWit Recordings) – “Plenty to play here. Lovely release. Will support on my radio show.”
Michael de Hey (Circle Records) – “Excellent release, thanks!”
Tony H (Late Night Munchies) – “Lovin’ the vibes of Mistakes are OK.”
Simon Kirk (Stag Beetle radio show) – “Great work again from PointBender. Plastic Cities in particular is a gem.”
Jon Fugler (XLNT radio show) – “Sy35 is such a lovely piece it had to be the fave. Some great tracks jostling for the coveted silver.”
Jon Barnes (Airpusher) – “yes! Funky, spacey, original. Mistakes are OK and CBD are the ones for me.”

Available Now From: Beatport, Bandcamp, Apple Music, And Spotify.

Patchen - Southwest Passage (Harmonious Discord)

Harmonious Discord founding family member and fantastical frontiersman Patchen Preston returns to the label for his long-anticipated album, Southwest Passage. Coalescing material life events into a sonic journey for the deep-minded, Patchen is a master at making the simple textures resonate and evolve. His album is a great immersion into his unique sound. Patchen focuses on influences of dub, ambient, and house practices while keeping a dignified abstraction present throughout. Southwest Passage is the embodied story of this journey, ready to take you along.

The album features dulcet lullabies like “Chime Garden” and “Salinas” that apply the primer while “Wide Eyes” and “Side Quests” quickly float into dub territory with subtle introductions of percussive constructs. “Navigator” acts a bridge into dark thickets utilizing droning and pulsating synth constructions. The following “End of the Beginning” and “Night Skies” serve as full proper late-night excursions tempering the concerns between deep listening and body shaking. “Quagmire” ascends as a quick ambient reprise, while “Techno Tony” and “Lady Peso’s Afternoon” showcase Patchen’s signature slow-burn, house-inspired brand. “Office Life” offers a quick surprise, cranking up the tempo and lightening the mood. “Chapters to Come” drifts the listener into deep night surrender as a blissful reminder of the care and depth baked into this journey.

Gabriel Ferreira (Items & Things) – “I’m in love. Super album.”
Soul of Man (Finger Lickin’ Records) – “Dreamy ambience that suits my head.”
Flash Atkins (Paper Recordings) – “Lovely album. I think Chime Garden is my fave.”
Jamie Topham (Summer Soulstice) – “Well produces, blissed out vibes.”
Justin Wilkes (Kiss 100 FM) – “So atmospheric. Great album.”
Tim Angrave (The Chillout Lounge Mix) – “Superb, deep, ambient and emotional.”
Hober Mallow (Mighty Reel) – “Just a lovely selection of tunes. Wide Eyes and Lady Peso’s Afternoon are standouts, and I can’t wait to share them with listeners.”

Available Now From: Bandcamp, Beatport, Apple Music, And Spotify.