CD Reviews

The Field

From Here We Go Sublime | Kompakt

By DAVID DAY | June 19, 2007

3.5 Stars

Not since Akufen’s “My Way” has an album of microsamples achieved the status of high art. The Field (a/k/a Swede Axel Willner) slices his favorite songs into paper-thin samples and then piles them on higher than a Dagwood sandwich. The result is a cascade of beautiful scaffolded sonics built of vocal gasps, reversed snares, and warm, pulsing beats. Willner takes it further by mixing in his own guitar loops and effects — mostly flangers and filters that further warm the soundpool until each track is a swirling, throbbing confection. The centerpiece, “The Deal,” is a 10-minute aural eclipse with a lone female voice sighing over loops of sound and dainty snares. It feels endless — in a good way. Most of Willner’s sources remain behind the wizard’s curtain, but in the last three seconds of the propulsive “A Paw in My Face,” a sample from Lionel Richie’s “Hello” pops out, and the final, title track lifts the fog on a ghostly sample of the Flamingos’ “I Only Have Eyes for You.” It’s a masterpiece of millennial digital collage that will have music fanatics searching, mostly in vain, for Willner’s other sources.

Related: Same difference, Minimalicious, Manufactured landscapes, More

Topics: CD Reviews , Entertainment, Music, Electronic Music, More

| More

ARTICLES BY DAVID DAY

DAY BY DAY BY DAY | September 18, 2007
Two years ago, the Phoenix asked me to write a weekly column about Boston’s growing electronic music and DJ scene.

THE DUFF CONNECTION | September 12, 2007
“I really haven’t had to deal with any crazy paparazzi, since we usually keep a low profile and sneak in the back door of places.”

BASSTOWN NIGHTS | September 12, 2007
If 2006 was the year Boston germinated, 2007 is the year it grows up.

PARTY PROS | September 06, 2007
Weekend Warriors, or WKND WRYRZ, is the Sunday-night lounge party at ZuZu in Central Square.

CITIZENS OF BASSTOWN | August 29, 2007
The proliferation of dance parties in Boston has led not only to a rise in the number of DJs but also to a growth in the ranks of dancers.