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Like Expanding and Static Caravan much joy has been gained from each passing release issued by the Oxford based label Make Mine Music. More a collective than a label, Make Mine Music allows artists to further their sounds, hone their skills, share working practices and ideas without the need or concern of a third party bearing down waiting for the rewards to filter through at the expense of quality and development.
‘Flow’ is strictly limited to 500 pressings and serves as a showcase for what promises to be a busy year for both the label and artists alike with a mail order only series planned to include releases from all the collectives participating protagonists. What makes this collection so special is the ease at which it places upon the listener, each of the 16 tracks on parade seamlessly lock into each other to provide an enjoyable dreaming collage of wistful atmospherics, you are almost numbed by the cross fusion of ambient textures and chilling backdrops from the almost alienated drone mechanisms of the shuffling eeriness of Avrocar’s ‘Cinematography’ and their menacingly apocalyptic ‘Served in Silence’ at the darker end of the spectrum to the deliciously tranquil pastoral noodle pop of Epic 45 (‘Train to the Sea’) and the sublime tingle like washes of the celestial sounding Portal (‘The Sun will rise’) both commandeering the lighter realms.
In between the folds of soothing tones there’s a chance to be treated to two sublime cuts from Yellow 6, the beautifully tempered ‘Quarantine’ trespasses under the cloak of nightfall the slow unfurling tension-scapes so perfected by godspeed while nimble as it may initially appear feral ambient folk of ‘August 26’ will without you noticing insidiously pull apart your emotions until your reduced to a husk. Not far behind in terms of stately intent, Innerise’s ‘Mermaid Café’ cocoons you in a glacial bubble to beat you into serene submission while Schengen pitch in with two slices of electronica that are as contrasting as you could ever hope to wish for, from the tantalisingly multi layered epic frosty stutter pop groove of ‘City’ which reveals a subtle affection for Land of Nod / Lakescene amid its grooves to the discordant stormy off the rails blip culture of ‘Just lately’. Sadly I can’t comment on Weyland whose ‘Gosh said Jane’ doesn’t seem to appear on my copy but we are pretty damn sure it’s a smasher all the same, ho hum.
However its Northern Lakes ‘The end of resolute’ that provides the compilations finest moment just edging aside the honeycombed gloss of the delicate July Skies ‘The days we played’. Both brooding and beautiful, Northern Lakes incorporate elements of Ry Cooder as though asked to retread Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Albatross’ to inject a sense of impending flux and then deciding mischievously to keep the listener at the edge of their seat in a grip of expectant wonder. An elegant release all said and done and one your collection could well do to have.
MARK BARTON
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