Various - Audiobulb Exhibition #3
[Audiobulb]

Now nearing their third birthday, Audiobulb are beginning to establish themselves as major players at the forefront of new electronic music.

Their sound is inescapably distinctive even though Exhibition #3 contains both old and new signings, showcasing stalwarts Cedar AV alongside new faces Nomad Palace. Fundamental to all fourteen artists is the signature Audiobulb sound, a careful culmination of immaculately programmed beats and cleverly applied sampling and found sounds.

Openers Effacer are drenched in minimal softly ebbing electronics where Disastrato opts for an early Skam impression. Calika teases with inside out vocal samples, a staple of his agitated acoustic cuts; Taavi Tulev provides beautiful loops of varied instrumentation and ethereal vocals that become overrunwith muted beats.

New signings Ultre and Nomad Palace both hypnotise, Ultre for his complex rhythm layering juxtaposed with delicate real time piano piece in Cinece and Nomad Palace for the deep set sweet bass sounds in Some Of Their Backs Were Frozen.

Henry Leo Duclos represents the darker side of Audiobulb, with heavier programming plagued by wonderfully disruptive static and glitches. Another Electronic Musician is certainly not what his name insists, with six minutes of oceanic ambience that suggests a more mechanistic Kranky and plays into a blind spot of minimal electronics.

Audiobulb once again don't fail to impress, with all artists leaving a lasting impression. All have an impeccable sense of the building and breaking down of a track, a feel for the importance of quiet and loud. Exhibition #3 is without a weakness, with nothing scratching the immaculate pieces of programming and electronics bequeathed by all featured.