Kindred by subtractiveLAD
(Originally released in 2011 via n5MD) Now 7 albums in, Stephen Hummel has decided to push his subtractiveLAD project into seemingly uncharted territory. Fans of Hummel's work know that at any given moment his songs can thoughtfully veer into more "classic" electronic music territory. On previous efforts, artists such as Boards of Canada and Brian Eno have been name-dropped as stylistic signposts but now such widescreen chill-room workouts are only one part of Hummel's big picture. Hummel has also injected elements of Jazz, Shoegaze and even Industrial into his works and excels in making such incorporations transparent and cohesive. With his latest album “Kindred”, Hummel adds the Berlin School era of Krautrock (and more specifically its close, more electronically minded sibling, Kosmische Musik) to his long list of inspirations. Hummel does so by utilizing more of the analog synthesizer sound-bed-of-choice of artists like Cluster, Ashra, and one of his biggest influences, Tangerine Dream. By mixing all these elements, Hummel is using his own history as well as the tradition of his influences to create an album that is on one hand somewhat future-retro but on the other undeniably fresh. An amalgam of the new and the old with a no apologies level of honesty and emotion. Each song a journey to some landscape we've never seen before.
CDs of this album can be purchased from n5MD (limited stock):
http://n5md.com/discography/185/Kindred
"Elements associated with previous subtractiveLAD releases surface in the form of post-rock signifiers and electric guitar playing, but the styles and approach of his past work are downplayed, making Kindred a brand new chapter for the chameleonic Hummel, even if it's one that finds its inspiration in the pioneering electronic music associated with groups such as Tangerine Dream and Cluster." - Textura
"While Kindred does prove a challenging listen, especially if you’re trying to make it from one end to the other in a single trip, the colourful new galaxies that you stumble across along the way are spectacularly radiant." - [sic] magazine
"An excellent, deeply immersive album from Hummel that’s also his strongest and most fully-realised collection of music as subtractiveLAD to date." - Cyclic Defrost
"Heady, uncompromising; subtractiveLAD’s work has rarely afforded so many risks and rewarded so many backhanded accolades." - The Skeleton Crew Quaterly
Tracklist
| 1. | The Available Light | 22:13 |
| 2. | Hesperus Is Phosphorus | 14:36 |
| 3. | What You See | 8:39 |
| 4. | Boy | 7:04 |
| 5. | Hello, Goodbye | 9:34 |
Credits
License
All rights reserved.
Music has always been a central part of my life. Over the years, as I have developed as an artist, my music has become the primary filter through which I process my experiences and emotions. My creative approach is to use the recording studio as an instrument of expression - to use technology as an extension of physical performance. Improvisation is always a core part of my creative process.