Oxycanta III – Various (Ultimae)
STYLE
October 2013
Downtempo naturally-oriented ambient collection.
The third in the Oxycanta series continues the thread of intricate beauty begun in 2006 by Ultimae curator Mahiane. The elegant blend of neo-classical ambient drifting and tasteful downtempo idm exerts a powerful influence – transporting the listener, infusing a coherent, shifting mood… From its gradual ascent out of minimal ambience, through dreamy soft-crunch beats, cerebral urban electronica and wistful piano nostalgia through to the blissful reverie of the wind-down tracks, Oxycanta III cleverly maintains a sense of musical quality and vision rarely matched. Luxuriating around the less beat-driven end of the chill-out spectrum and brimming with ambient zones, Oxycanta III is ideal headphones listening; late-night head-space material; intelligent atmosphere music.
IN DEPTH
The opening Drone Flower is subtle: soft, undulating electronic tones with echoing field recordings floating in slow-motion, building gradually to a plaintive piano/acoustic guitar refrain, lulling beat pulling in toward the end. Track five, Plenitude, from Fingers In The Noise is a serene piece of weightless digital beauty – layers of light crackle and sleeting static lifting a simple repeating blurry-chime motif as if bobbing on a mote-flecked ocean. Tracks seven and nine both come from I Awake feat. Björn Berglund – Morning Drops part1 and part 2 – these pieces feature a timeless piano that conjures up visions of deserted old houses, dust and cobwebs; the first meanders hauntingly amid hazy synthetic tones and faintly glowing drones; the second rises out of stillness and into a very, very restful beat. Scann-Tech’s glowing Phaeton Remains (track 10) has a wonderful sense of uplifting warmth that carries on to the penultimate Complex A by Circular – breathy vocal sighs and synth swells building like a sunset tide.
ARTWORK
Following the pattern of previous Oxycanta releases Oxycanta III comes as a three-panel panoramic digipack – however, this is the first in the series to include a booklet insert. Cover imagery focuses in on dark, curling winter plant forms – furred shells and stretching filaments spreading across a smooth grey background. Track titles are laid out on the rear cover whilst inside can be found contact and label information. A track to a page, the sixteen-page booklet presents natural vignettes, city abstractions and intimate macro-details each with title, track-time and brief credits. The final pages reveal a portrait of Mahiane, some words on the project, dedication and thanks.
OVERALL
After a six year gap Ultimae’s Mahiane follows up on [ Oxycanta ] Winter Blooms with the third Hawthorn-inspired assemblage of top-notch organic electronica. Although the personality of the series is beautifully maintained, the roster of artists is different: only Aes Dana appears as a constant feature. New contributors are: Miktek, Mer-A, Lars Leonhard, Muridae, Finger In The Noise, I Awake feat. Björn Berglund, Scann-Tec, Circular. The album is released as a delightfully packaged CD or it is also available in a broad range of download formats. Twelve tracks in all are here and you can sample before you buy at the Ultimae website or the Ultimae Bandcamp page.
Morpheus Music 