If countries and regions were to be judged solely on the kind of music emanating from within its borders then Scandinavia would be deemed something of a bleak and minimalist place what with all the dark ambient acts it harbors. This disc, from Sweden's Diskrepant, adds further disquietude to the country's musical reputation with a foray into a strange, exotic but sparsely inhabited and twilit world rarely trodden upon by human feet.
Per Åhlund, the moving force behind Diskrepant, creates extremely pared-down soundscapes utilising both analogue and digital sythesised sound sources in alliance with acoustically- and electronically-sourced audio recordings, which have been further enhanced, looped, distorted, processed, and stretched through effects modules. The resulting minimalist textures give the impression of a world not quite properly formed or still in the stages of creation, where the edges are still fuzzy and what shapes there are haven’t quite achieved solidity or dimensionality. Trying to get a firm grasp is often impossible, as everything seems to be composed of mist and insubstantiality; sounds fade in and fade out again just as quickly, constantly shifting and metamorphosing. Some of the sounds are obvious while others are barely on the verge of audibility, creating layers of abstract complexity that manage not to actually clutter up any of the spaces. Indeed these pieces are subtle, very understated, and quietly insistent; what’s here almost seems to live in the apparent void between musical notes, in other words if you took any example of music apart this is what would be found existing in the spaces between the crotchets, the quavers and semi-quavers.
Abstract these three pieces may be, but nevertheless they seem to be peopled by both the familiar and the eerily exotic, the whole dyed with colours as yet unnamed and unseen, and composed of substances as yet undiscovered. This is a hypnotic dreamworld where the impossible is entirely possible and whatever reality impinges itself on the listener is nothing but plastic mirage which can be readily molded according to desire and inclination. Diskrepant’s music appears to be more about potentialities and possibilities than actualities, and almost requires an active form of interaction in order to fully engage with it; nothing has taken on its final unalterable form yet and there is still room for the introduction of new elements to help give it shape.
If I was to apply words like ‘formless’ and ‘shapeless’ to Into Sleep then they must be seen not in a negative context but rather as a means to express the fullest extent of those potentialities and possibilities noted above – any potential listener can stride through these sonic landscape paintings and can make of them whatever he/she wants; the forms just need to be called forth and with that it’s made real. In this sense then the formless and shifting world portrayed here by Diskrepant is nothing more than an invitation to participate in an act of creation, to give form to possibilities and to bring forth the potential seeded throughout the three pieces; and that, for me, is the unique beauty inherent in this music.
Samples:
- Apparatus Like Womb
- Awaking Amydala
- Paradoxical Sleep State Ends
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