Zenapolæ

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Track Listings

1. Graphite [d/form]
2. Coming Out of Hiding [Crud]
3. Children of the Ort Cloud [Paul Edwards]
4. My Gluttonous Lobster Baby [Dhudn]
5. Atrip [Kalx]
6. code029 [zenas(prime)]
7. secon [Ecux]
8. But Now It's Too Late [Dhudn]
9. Utility [Instruction Shuttle]
10. Adinu6 [Kalx]
11. Because You Are [Paul Edwards]
11. yclept [Ecux]
12. Swimshell [Instruction Shuttle]
14. Ear Drum Dream [Crud]
15. Code046 [zenas(prime)]
16. Silica [d/form]

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Credits and Licenses

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Album Reviews

AmbiEntrance

Eight Various Artists from Zenapolae's eclectic roster each contribute two pieces which are pegged as widely-ranging sonic experimentalism. Beat-free zones abut with wild rhythmic outbursts and the only consistency is the assurance of unpredictability as strange new avenues open to aural exploration.

An atmospheric opener, d/form's "graphite" hovers in austere synth orchestrations of somber beauty, illuminated by shifting strands of tonal lightness. Mining similarly beatless though spacier zones, CRUD is "coming out of hiding" as gleaming irradiated streams churn in suspension. maudib's "Children of the Ort Cloud" features rougher pulsations which become stippled with rapid e-percussion, and a series of more raucous contortions.

Think drum'n'bass in space... "my gluttonous lobster baby" emits phantasmal keyboard choruses which are overlain by dhudn's busy little rhythms. The wafting synth-symphonics of kalx' "atirp" are infused with funkily aggressive electrobeats, clattering with metallic overtones. The ruffling electron murk of "029" (3:06) by zenas(prime) adopts a hypnotically clunky rhythm and a coordinated pattern of static.

ecux delivers the jungle-istic blips and beats of "secon"; microscopic tribal as rendered by alien robots locks into a groove of clicks, miniature xylotones and resonance. Thudding percussion from instruction shuttle pounds upon the vague wriggling mesh of pulsating synthtronics which is "utility". After meeting each of the artists, their second helpings are dispensed in a differently jumbled order beginning with kalx's video-game quirkiness "adinu6".

ecux reappears with the Eastern-ish bop-and-buzz of "y clept" burdened with repeating spoken word phrases. dhudn's second rounder "but now it's too late" spatters and zips with intriguingly spastic arrhythmia over smooth electronic floes. Powered by distantly muted pounding, "ear drum dream" (6:11) is CRUD's softly scritchy foray into the nocturnal jungles of the sleeping mind. The 70.5 minutes of pegged contain a head-turning 8.3 array of experimentations... from electronic ambient to IDM to exploratory soundscrapes to audio-abstractionism and virtually anything in-between.

These eight Various Artists gather under the banner of independent flagship zenapolae to promote their unique individual expressions.

David J. Opdyke, AmbiEntrance, 2000

Black Monday

this is one of those rare comps where the whole thing works as an entity. there is certainly a wide variety of material and styles,yet nothing finds itself out of place from another.

most of this album fits itself in the experimental electronics or idm niche, lots of easy comparisons to aphex twin and/or autechre material. there is something for everyone who is into some chill shit, from the bouncing edgyness of dhudn's "but now it's too late" to the ethnic spirtualisms of "ear drum dream" by crud to the droning serenity of d/form's tracks to the jazz tinged techno of 'clept' by ecux.

there are 8 artists with 2 songs featured by each on Pegged. my fave track is "atirp" by kalyx. this track is pleasantly twisted, featuring a dichotomy of being sedatedly frantic. lots of clank and clang percussion with sweet strings and spastic synth work make a very intersting listen.

elastic is the word that comes to mind when i think of a lot of the trax on this comp...all in all some nice progressive electronics coming out the US east coast and specifically the NJ underground.

Black Monday, 2001

Mute! Magazine

A compilation of new, innovative, and mostly unheard of experimental bands. Opening with the concrete like ambience of D/Form and going to the off beat rhythms of Crud. Dhudn continues with the labtop sounds of "My Gluttoness Lobster Boy", while Kalx creates some of the most breathtakingly beautiful beat driven ambient pieces this person has managed to encounter in a long time. With more amazing tracks from Zenas(prime), Ecux, and Instruction Shuttle, Pegged is a sign that everything that Zenapolae has in it's future is bright and it will follow on a blip and bleep tune of original sound that far surpasses most everything else in it's category. Find this one kids!

Mute! Magazine, 2001

Grooves Experimental Electronic Music Magazine

Along with Fuzzy Box, Zenapolae is proving that someone is actually listening to experimental electronic music in my home region of South New Jersey, the land of big hair and hoagies. And this 16-track compilation also shows how tight a hold Autechre, for better or worse, has on new IDM (as if you didn't know already) -at least a quarter of the songs here have that skittery-microbeat-and-off-kilter-electronics sound the Manchester duo has perfected. Most remarkable is that two of the Autechre-styled tracks here are from Arizonian Joshua Beeson, who records as Dhudn and offers more evidence that the new icon for teenage musicians is not the guitar god but the bedroom producer.

Other notable artists on Pegged include Kalx ( a No Type MP3 veteran), who creates a bangin' and clangin' din with two post-Autechre tracks ("Atirp", Adinu6"), Muadib, whose "children of the Ort Cloud" is yet another fine slice of nouveau electro, and Zenas(prime), who leans more towards glitchcore on "029" and "046". There's also some dark ambience here, but if you can't get enough of that Autechre sound, Pegged should provide some satiation.

Grooves Experimental Electronic Music Magazine, 2001

Pine Bluff Commercial

Prepare to enter the deep, dark confines of the computer run interior of a spaceship far out in space ... and you're the only crew member. Spacey, experience chilled, trippy technoambient sounds and ethereal transdimensional waves lapping in slow motion at your mind. Smooth moods that feature waaaaay laid back ultra spartan blips and beats and ethereal melodies like unto peaceful oceans afloat in space.

Kristofer Upjohn, Pine Bluff Commercial, 2003

Credits and Licenses

Copyright © 1998-2000 by the original artists.
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