BRETT NAUCKE - Seed

America's "synthetic" underground scene is a bottomless well from which priceless treasures keep surfacing. Brett Naucke has been around for more than a decade: his earliest appearances came with Druids Of Huge, Excercise and Skin/Trade, groups whose cassettes and CD-Rs were released by Catholic Tapes, a label owned by Naucke himself. Records that evidently ended up on the radar of John Elliott and 'his' Spectrum Spool, the Editions Mego sub-label he has run with full autonomy for more than three years.

“Seed” is an excellent calling card for Naucke. On side A, the American musician builds tribal scenarios that short-circuit the psychedelic visions of the Steve Roach and Robert Rich collaborations (the unmissable “Strata”) with the futuristic visions of the new space-music of Emeralds. Subsonic bass and watery percussion enrich the fabric of the compositions, while always keeping the driving melody in plain sight. The tracklist also features enchanting ambient watercolors that dazzle like comets with every pass (“Sorrell & Grays”).

Side B opens with the lunar bath of “Lost Inside Your Houses” before the rhythm starts rippling beneath the visionary IDM of “Harp Of The Evening Garden”. Further on, the atmosphere grows even denser on the wonderful “Transmissions From The Evening Garden”, where field recordings and radio signals help underline the track's oppressive crescendo.

“Seed” was written and recorded between Miami and Chicago using minimal variations on a single analog synthesizer patch: an almost academic approach that Brett Naucke manages to turn into a thoroughly enjoyable record.

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26/05/2014