CASS / LEVELS — s/t

LEVELS - s/t.
CASSETTE + DIGITAL.
Released in October 2017.
Switzerland.

Recorded with modest equipment in Geneva: a drum machine, some synthesizers, a sampler, and effects, the ten miniatures on LEVELS' self-titled debut are nonetheless dense in atmosphere and mood, often immensely beautiful beyond their means. As the project's name suggests, each track has the feeling of a new level in a video game; a new environment to explore, search for new clues, and ultimately conquer. Drawing on classic anime, film, and video game soundtracks, LEVELS' deliberately minimalist sound palette is designed to give the listener a cinematic sensation. The sparser, lo-fi sounds on side A make the listener tentatively explore new futuristic spaces, wandering through hallways of ambient beds and kick drum beats. However, the more active rhythms and sharper melodies on the second side tell the action that happens next, picking up the pace for keyboard chases, drum machine action sequences, and some wonderfully crafted redemptive emotional peaks.

Recorded and produced at Village Suisse Studio in Geneva, Switzerland. Mastered by Felix-Florian Tödtloff at Ætherweight in Berlin. Artwork by Daniel Castrejón.

TRACKLIST / 29 minutos
01 Corridors
02 Device Warbling
03 F.Maps
04 Slo-Forms
05 Latent Information
06 Los Aguaro
07 Gp-17
08 Mysta
09 Village ooc
10 Distant Gen

Umor Rex album page

UMOR REX is a window with a unique vision of experimental music. It's a label worth discovering through the ear, both for electronic music enthusiasts and for those curious about exploring new forms of artistic expression.

Founded in 2006 in Mexico City, UMOR REX is an independent record label with a challenging and experimental catalog, available on vinyl and cassette formats, spanning from ambient to electronic experimentation, dub, and avant-garde. They release the work of artists constantly exploring new sonic territories, such as Felicia Atkinson, Driftmachine, Rafael Anton Irisarri, Gudrun Gut, Siavash Amini, among many others.