various
artists - ikude
celebrating our 10th release we decided to put together a compilation album. 7 months in the making and reaching all 4 corners of the globe in our search. england, canada, greece, australia and germany all representing. featuring some truly beautiful electronic music seamlessly merging from fast idm, thoughful ambient, lush melodies through some cold mechanical cliq, organic electronica to taiwanese hip-hop esq soul searching!
14
tracks featuring parallel worlds, cato six, signalform, riamiwo, tachikoma, self
oscillate, naono, melorman, alkin engineering, laputa, [710W3], pascal, nighthaze
and seriatim.
TRACKLISTING
01 : laputa - eightfold path : play
02 : naono - twinkels in my breathing : play
03 : self oscillate - thirtyseven : play
04 : pascal - carousel : play
05 : melorman - lullu : play
06 : tachikoma - i frank too much : play
07 : [710W3] - jade green : play
08 : signalform - replay : play
09 : parallel worlds - purple skyline : play
10 : riamiwo - details won't detain : play
11 : nighthaze - still friends? : play
12 : cato six - milpobeam : play
13 : seriatim - flywheel : play
14 : alkin engineering - segwean manor : play
REVIEWS :
taken from textura.org:
Shima's Ikude compilation departs from the prevailing electronic music norm by wholeheartedly embracing a 1990s Warp-IDM vibe that'll strike many listeners as thoroughly old-school—a good or bad thing, depending on one's disposition and appetite for that period. Drawn from artists around the globe (England, Canada, Greece, Australia, Germany), the label's tenth release assembles fourteen contributions into an hour-long travelogue that revives hazy memories of early Autechre, Plaid, and Squarepusher releases (crisp beats and understated melodic fragments in Cato Six's “Milpobeam” evoke early Autechre, for example, while intricate motifs and rapidly pitter-pattering beats in “Thirtyseven” suggest Self Oscillate's affinity for Plaid).
Meandering melodies and laconic beatsmithing in Laputa's opening “Eightfold Path” hint at the journey ahead, and the bright melodies and storming beat skitter of Naono's “Twinkles in My Breathing” offer clearer evidence of the stylistic path the compilation is intent on pursuing. The opening two minutes of Signalform's “Replay” are so evocative and languorous, one almost regrets its shift from ambient mode to IDM, even when the material's lush placidity remains in place following the transition. Ikude mixes it up on occasion: [710w3]'s “Jade Green” lends the set brief Asian flavour, Alkin Engineering's “Segwean Manor” adds darker industrial-IDM heaviosity, and Tachikoma's “I Frank Too Much” offers a welcome change of pace by introducing crate-digging hip-hop (a shame the tune's marred by borderline vocal elements). Two of the collection's better moments come courtesy of Melorman, whose “Lullu” weds sweet, stately melodies to laconic beats, and Riamiwo, whose delicate “Details Won't Detain” offers breezy, vocal-based synth-pop that's hard to resist.
taken from gridface.com
Somehow this CD got stuck at the bottom of my to-review pile. Upon re-listening, I discovered a nice collection of understated, melodic IDM. Laputa’s “Eightfold Path” is a lovely composition featuring bell-like tones over rolling bass and glitchy beats. “Twinkles In My Breathing” by Naono features Rephlex-friendly warped notes over a simple piano line and snare rushes. On “Carousel” by Pascal, synths play in an almost improvisational style over a fat analogue bassline. Unfortunately the bass proves a little too repetitious.
Tachikoma’s “I Frank Too Much” is on the silly hip-hop tip. “Replay” by Signalform is a melodic ditty with a distorted voice. Parallel Worlds’ “Purple Skyline” is a pretty instrumental played on all analogue synthesizers. It’s my favorite track here. Riamiwo’s “Details Won’t Detain” is the requisite pop song. The vocal style sounds familiar.
After
a real dearth of IDM releases this year, it’s good to see small European
labels like Shima rising to the challenge. This line-up shows a lot of promise.
taken from superill.com
Ikude was a very random find. As a matter of fact I’m not entirely sure how I found it initially. But rest assured this is one of the best “IDM” compilations I’ve ever heard. I personally had never heard anything on Shimas roster before, and after hearing this I absolutely plan on exploring their other 9 releases. The thing about this compilation that’s most appealing is that they managed to put together a very broad spectrum of electronic music while still maintaining the atmosphere that you expect from an album categorized under IDM. Theres some lyrical Lo-Fi style tracks, like “I Frank Too Much” by Tachikoma that’s just plain fun to listen too while theres also some harder, almost Acid style stuff like “Carousel” by Pascal, and “Twinkles in My Breathing” by Naono is just a refreshing reminder that people are still making Richard D. James influenced experimental music.
This is one of those albums that you can listen to 5 times a day and not get bored with.
