subtractiveLAD - Apparatus
[n5MD]

Using an array of home-brewed synth patches, drum units and effect generators, Canadian ambient/electronic maestro Stephen Hummel has, in the past, shown particular flair for evoking volcanic imagery with his cavernous, organic sound. Continuing an impressive album a year ratio under his SubtractiveLAD guise, much of the works featured on “Apparatus” is interchangeable with previous release “No Man’s Land”. Fine when you are preaching to the converted but, with n5MD’s and Hummel’s reputation growing steadily, it is the less conventional SubLAD tracks that are of more interest here.

Opener “Civil Dusk”, for example, is an immersive affair, with vast vacuums of grainy guitar that powers from a murmur into a full blown roar, as Hummel wears a Tangerine Dream influence on his sleeve. “Spoiled Honey’s” big analogue synth-bass is pure Boards of Canada, but the flourishing percussion is all SubtractiveLAD, nodding to Hummel’s grounding in Jazz and Improv. As does the juggernauting “Decay as a Lifestyle”, a piece featuring a motoring guitar that is saturated in a vat of reverb.

“The Day Away”, though, is rather sublime, initiated by a lonely drone that soon blossoms into an esoteric, sparkling melody, forming much like cirrus clouds above those volcanoes. Unadorned by percussive elements this track is as heavenly as it gets, wrapping you in a Hammock-like cocoon while retaining all the cherubic qualities of a Sigur Ros ambient number. “Becoming Nothing” is the exact negative, brimming with a dark, gaseous hiss with atonal reverb strewn across like debris.

Undeniably the work of SubtractiveLAD, at times you feel as if Hummel is holding something back on us. Then you are hit square on the head with some truly wonderful moments like “The Day Away” or, indeed, “Civil Dusk”. It is a compelling paradox, as he incrementally shifts his sound yet again, purposefully adding to his already considerable repertoire. “Apparatus”, though, has much to offer your sonically serrated ears.

Apparatus Tracklisting:

1. Civil Dusk
2. Between Us
3. Decay As A Lifestyle
4. Mayfly
5. The Day Away
6. Alone (With You)
7. Spoiled Honey
8. Your Human Love
9. Becoming Nothing
10. Fumes