SOVACUSA

centrepoint

CD/LP, expanding records

Architecture-photography has been a stomping ground for many a aspiring young artists without talent, because taking interesting photos of modern buildings is easy (I’ve done it myself). To come up with an architectural idea for an interesting building is way harder. Maps + Diagrams had a unique idea for architectural sound, that eventually spawned into a much bigger form of electronica without ever losing its gentleness or warmth. Where many records lost a lot of their appeal in hindsight, “polytuft-tech” is one of the few that was able to win. So it is only consequently and very much welcomed that they’d stick by their formula for some time and try to add to it as organically as possible, but the movements as well as the whole genre are slow to evolve. Which is a nice change in our hyperactive and overspeeded world. Sovacusa is a new and old project in varying respects.

If you have followed what expanding records have released and what the admirable maps+diagrams have done, you’ll have a very good idea of what to expect from “centrepoint”. Not only because Sovacusa is a collaboration between Tim Martin of said maps+diagrams and Steve Davis of Broca, who are reworking sounds recorded by Martin some years ago, but also because they remain closely in the field pinned down by expanding records over the years. Does this make “centrepoint” a retro-record? That’s a little too fast for me – retro used to be at least a decade backwards – but it is definitely rather surprising by polishing the definition than polishing the definition by surprising. But refer to the title of the record to see what the aim was. Both artists have been very productive in the last years and really sharpened their skills. Broca remixed one track on maps+diagrams last CD “coutchouc” on Static Caravan” last year – a record I don’t think a lot of people own because it was limited to 100 pieces due to the cover being made of corkwood. So it is safe to say that actually “centrepoint” is the first full album with Martin since “polytuft tech”. Broca up to now only appeared on various compilations and smaller formats.

Me, personally, I have a great tendence towards their music and work, the consequent design of their records also waking up the collector - compulsive - obsessive disorder in me. Moreover I am able to relax perfectly to these soft idm-beats and keyboard-layers washing in. Last time around I called it a “timeless floating in space atmosphere” and that is still right. Eventually, it might all be about textures rather than melodies but without losing melody as a definite criteria; maybe in a mixture of 65 : 35. The focus shifts slowly from the percussive side to the tonal side and back again. Tracks like “Kinjita” or “Akihibara” are based thoroughly on crackling, hybrid beats with airy keyboard sounds filling the spaces left open in the background, whereas other tracks such as “Urbic” hav the beats so softly and mixed into the background that mostly only the textural sounds remain. In between these poles Martin and Broca keep up a balance that sways like those wave-installations / gimmicks you could buy a few years back to brighten up your living room. Even though the speed gets a little hazy and faster at times, mostly the record will spread a laid back and gently moving pulse even without ever using a straight beat.

Don’t make the mistake to simply focus on the glitch and splintered beats side of this record, because its pristine beauty lies enormously in the working of the two focal points mentioned in togetherness. And maybe this is what really makes “centrepoint” work so well in comparison to a lot of other electronica records that simply stuff various things together. Every track on here seems to really breathe with sparks and depth. I am not going to ponder on how the long lasting friendship between Martin and Davis has influenced the outcome of this record, because such thinking usually seems really bland to me most of the time (the last time I marked upon such an information was when I learned that Tom Waits once had an affair with Rickie Lee Jones, which seemed to explain something more than why she appeared on the cover of “Blue Valentine” but what kind of information is that anyway?). I’ll just lean back to enjoy the floating experience of “centrepoint”.

www.expandingrecords.com

9/2005