- With the title Source Of Uncertainty, and goals to celebrate "hardcore modular synthesis" and "emphasize the process more than the end results," it's no real surprise that SOMEC's latest EP can sound somewhat unfocused. "MD Discount," with its muted pads and insectoid synth scratching, dallies a couple minutes too long; the swaying, hypnotic momentum of "Exclusive Disjunction" peters out into a muddy, dissatisfying drone. But Giovanni Napoli's exploratory methods lead to just as many intriguing successes as misfires. His EP, for Milan label Haunter, follows the Arbitrary Function Generator cassette, and its synth studies benefit from being a shade crisper than that release.
Tracks like "Drone DPO" and the brief, wispy "Skan" occupy fascinating mood interzones—sometimes bleak and gloomy, sometimes close to sun-dappled. Style-wise, they're poised between familiar places, hinting at industrial and techno as well as the timeworn bleep-bloop of modular noodling. Uncertainty's best moment comes when a techno pulse steps fully into frame: the brilliant "Incertezza," with its muffled thuds and frayed chords, would sit comfortably in Lee Gamble's record bag, at least if it was longer than 90 seconds.
Tracklist01. Drone DPO
02. Incertezza
03. MD Discount
04. Exclusive Disjunction
05. Skan
06. Drone DPO (Tristan Version)