Various - No. I

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  • No Ware is a label started in May of 2014 by German producers Uwe Schmidt, AKA Atom TM, and Material Object. With a speed and consistency typical of Schmidt, it's put out out three 12-inches and a dozen or so digital releases in the last 12 months, including the first release in five years from Max Loderbauer and Tobias Freund's collaboration as NSI. The founders' own collaboration as No. Inc. has reflected the label's focus: slightly skewed, digitally-constructed ambient sounds, rich in texture but icy in character. No. I is a label compilation mixed by Schmidt and edited by both artists. At first it feels like a 75-minute mix of high definition textures flowing patiently into each other, and it's difficult at first to find the seams where the tracks combine. Three of the first four feature Atom TM in some capacity; the other is by Chile's Raw C. Mixed together like this, they allow you to float on top of the ornate, spacious sound, dipping in and out as you please. It's not an opening sequence that demands your attention. Start pushing up the volume though, and wonderful details in the low-end start to appear. The first real bassline is the pulse of Jacek Sienkiewicz's "Berceuse," which is akin to a Basic Channel track in its combination of rootedness and ephemerality. Even when the more percussive stabs of Atom TM's remix of Sagittarius A's "Omega Point" begin to poke through, the top end of the mix stays filled with cloudy, amorphous textures. This dualistic approach is extremely effective, leaving you feeling like you're being pulled two ways at once. When the mood eventually calms on NSI.'s "A.R.T. V," the effect is both confusing and surprisingly uplifting. The most striking thing about No. I is its cohesion. Over a year's worth of releases by artists from all over the world, Atom TM and Material Object have maintained a rich but focused aesthetic sensibility. Only rarely does the consistent beauty of the sound design become saccharine, as with some reversed piano taken from a live recording of an Atom TM performance in Japan—in such an inscrutable sonic context, the recognisable piano sounds out of place. The propulsive melodic sequence of Material Object's "Omega Point" remix that comes next, though, is utterly beautiful. It's an ideal conclusion to the mix, and a fine way to cap a year spent challenging the idea that ambient music ought to be a passive experience.
  • Tracklist
      01. Atom TM - No. I 02. Atom TM & Jacek Sienkiewicz - Zero Time Collapsing 03. Raw-C - Ego Split II 04. No. Inc. - Early Reflections (Part II) 05. Jacek Sienkiewicz - Berceuse 06. Steve Law - Ascension Engine 07. Sagittarius A - Omega Point (Delta Shuffle Remix) 08. Sagittarius A - Omega Point 09. NSI. - A.R.T. V 10. Jacek Sienkiewicz - Sto_rys 11. Atom TM + Jacek Sienkiewicz - Zero Time Collapsing 12. Atom TM - Alpha Txt Live at Labyrinth 13. Sagittarius A - Omega Point (Material Object Remix)
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