Batch 0012 // ANMA // SM-LL // 08.12.2019
digital
01 Harm Osc 4
02 Harm Osc 5
03 Harm Osc 6
04 Harm Osc 7
05 Harm Osc 8
06 Harm Osc 9
07 Harm Osc 10
08 Harm Osc 2
12” hand-cut clear vinyl
A1 Harm Osc 4
A2 Harm Osc 5
A3 Harm Osc 6
B1 Harm Osc 9
B2 Harm Osc 8
B3 Harm Osc 10
#oscillator #abstract #accentuating #antidote #appropriating #artefacts #beyond #board #ceremonial #circuitry #clicks #composer #cryptic #danceable #designed #don’t-believe-the- hype #droning #echo #feedback #fetish #ghost #harmonic #heavy #hypnotic #ideas #improviser #intellijel #introspective #kicks #knits #less #literature #live #loopback #loops #low-tech #lurch #machine #manipulating #mediator #minimalism #mono #more #natural- overtone-series #no-input #noise #no-overdubs #paranoia #percussion #performed #precarious #produced #quod-erad-demonstrandum #rare #reluctant #remnants #repetition #research #reverb #rhythm #sci-fi #seeds #sharp #snapshot #sonic #springray #springs #spy #squeaks #squirmy #stereo #sub-bass #synthesizer #triggers #unassuming #uncanny #unrequested-genre #untuned #verbos
credits
released December 8, 2019
All tracks by ANMA.
Mastered at SM-LL.
ANMA – BATCH0012 (SM-LL) // Boomkat
Boomkat product review: „Extra dry and crispy minimalism from Austria, dead heavy on the subs and glinting with martian melodic filament in a way recalling classic Raster Noton and Mika Vainio„
ANMA – BATCH0012 (SM-LL) // Chain D.L.K. Review
The bold branding- if you can call it branding- of the SM-LL label is getting progressively more homogeneous as it evolves. Already establishing a rule where all the artwork is plain black (yes that’s not a technical error in the thumbnail above), and with releases that are numbered rather than named, their press releases now consist solely of alphabetised hashtags. They’ve also announced that from next year, they will no longer even be including artist names on their releases- the entire thing will be anonymous, unless an artist breaks ranks and takes credit for any of it.
At times it feels like this affords the artists freedom, to experiment or express sonics without any word association or accompanying imagery. At other times it feels like a disservice, robbing each release from grabbing your attention or drawing you in with its own identity.
So in the third paragraph I finally get to talk about the music. This is a series of eight (or just six if you buy the vinyl) out-of-sequence-numbered layered sets of analogue oscillation and arpeggiation meanders. Bubbly bleeps and off-count repeating patterns are the order of the day. Around this, higher pitched atmospherics and electronic glitter provide a gentle, less-is-more approach to decoration. Curt sub-bass thrubs and throbs sometimes gently imitate techno kicks without ever pushing into that genre. It’s rough-hewn at times, littered with clicks, but this seems to add to the warmth.
“Harm Osc 5” is an example of one of the steadier tracks, a gentle walking pace number whose flatness is its virtue, while “Harm Osc 6” is an example of one of the more off-kilter, time-unpredictable arrangements that keeps things firmly cerebral rather than foot-tapping.
Favourites for me included the slightly more uptempo alt-techno of “Harm Osc 8”, and the gloriously awkward “Harm Osc 9” with its counting-challenge pulsing and tinnitus squeal. The soft, theremin-like melodic expression that crops up in final track “Harm Osc 2” is a curious sonic salve and an endearing way to wrap up.
This is a form of analogue proto-techno that goes simple and goes deep, very deep indeed. But if you’re prepared for a deep dive into a thinking person’s bass noise, turn this up loud.
ANMA – BATCH0012 (SM-LL) // Toneshift.net Review
ANMA (Andreas Mangweth) is no stranger to our pages. His sound, as adapted for the SM-LL Batch series is minimal electronics with slight wave bending. It stretches time, to an extent. As Harm Osc 5 opens the pitter-patter of digital ‘rain’ creates a micro-beat that’s refreshing. It’s as if you are listening to one of those early Raster-Noton records, slowed way down.
The past decade has had fewer and farther between in terms of these types of works, those that rely partly on spaced electronics and the creative imagination to fill in the gaps – but Mangweth does so with a reliable and delicate hand. It’s a very futuristic sound, with singular bleep tones and low atmosphere, and never suffers from any threat of being retro – though it is a decidedly machine-driven sound. There is a contemplative element to listening to this record, mainly due to pacing and the punctuation of notes.
On Batch 0012 it would seem that ANMA is going for this reductionist style, especially on a piece like Harm Osc 7 where you may (or may not) be listening to a spool of digital tape processing, at close range, tumbling through the mechanism, physically rolling forward. There is a slight feel of degradation, and possibly the rise of a heat source here. The drone hum is the base, and the bass. This ‘feeling’ is only more emphasized on the following, Batch Osc 8.
Instead of minimal techno perhaps this could be referred to as diverted techno as it becomes rapt in its physical stasis moreso than its penchant to be funky, though it teases as much. I’m imagining remixes. But also know that they are not at all necessary as this moves into glazed-over palpitations strewn throughout Harm Osc 10, likely one of the stronger tracks here, which summarizes the austere tendencies of this record as a whole.
ANMA – BATCH0012 (SM-LL) // SilenceAndSound Review
Andrea Taeggi/ANMA/Tendencyitis/K.Pierco
(SM-LL)
Le label SM-LL continue de surprendre, livrant sous des pochettes noires uniformes, les productions d’artistes naviguant dans les courants de la musique expérimentale décrite comme « réductionniste ».
Avec quatre sorties au mois de décembre, Andrea Taeggi, ANMA, Tendencyitis, K.Pierco, SM-LL nous gratifie d’expériences sensitives à la sobriété minimale, univers fragiles posés sur des structures hautement inflammables.
Les grésillements et les ondes, les zébrures et les torsions, relient ces oeuvres à l’approche similaire mais au développement propre, chaque projet formant un ensemble relié aux autres via l’énergie physique qui les unit.
On n’est pas sans penser à certains titres composés par Plastikman, matinés d’électro-acoustique et d’avant-garde, d’Arte Povera mélodique et de sursauts dubby hérités de Pole. Une série de musiques ancrée dans notre présent, les oreilles rivées vers le futur. Très fortement recommandé.
Roland Torres
