The debut release from Finland's
Vladislav Delay appeared on the obscure Australian low-tech
electronica label Sigma Editions in 1998 in a small pressing in handmade sleeves. The prolific
experimental artist rose to becoming one of the most critically acclaimed
electronic artists of the turn of the millennium, with releases on the Mille Plateaux, Chain Reaction, and Force Ink labels following this release in quick succession. A couple of the
dub-inflected abstractions here surfaced on his Mille Plateaux debut the following year, but this album is his defining point-of-departure in defining a new hybrid
dub,
minimalism,
idm, post-techno music. His atmospheres are made of off-kilter, pulsing rhythms and textured loop experiments that are structured akin to
avant-garde minimalist
Steve Reich, yet have their roots in
techno and
house. There is a reduced and patient quality to this work that will appeal to fans of
Oval, Thomas Brinkman, and
Pole, and
Vladislav Delay's music is as individual and refined as these artists. ~ Martin Walters, All Music Guide
