Mikael Stavöstrand — Delgenelralton

Click techno is a musical genre that has a bright future. And I'm pretty sure that in the future, Mikael Stavöstrand will be seen as one of the pioneers of it. "Delgenelralton" is his latest release, put out by the well known Dutch label Staalplaat.

Stavöstrand, born in 1972 in Sweden, has already released some albums in different musical styles. He is probably best known from the dark industrial outfit Archon Satani, where he collaborated with Thomas Petterson (Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio). But also from his solo work Inanna, which can be classified as dark ambient. However, the brave man now has chosen a completely different path in his musical career. His solo works, released under his own name nowadays, are far more minimal than his previous outputs; you'll find no drones, drums or vocals on his releases. He has also set up a new label for releasing his music, and others' as well. Mitek, as it is called, is dedicated to promote and release works by new Scandinavian artists within the fields of experimental electronics, ranging from abstract to micro house.

"Delgenelralton" is part of the Korm Plastics Introductionary Paperback or KIP series. These releases (this is No. 018) aim at releasing unknown music from unknown artists at a cheap price. Although the styles presented on these series vary a lot, the central theme remains experimental. Ambient, noise, guitar drones, jungle, techno, samples, etc from artists like Brume, Spore, Det Wiehl, Anto Æki, and several others. An interesting way of introducing new music to the unwary public.

This release covers 38 tracks / 1 hour of minimal electronics, taking elements from modern dance music and Japanese noise like Merzbow. Minimal music (8 tracks are completely silent) with minimal sound sources: bleeps, clicks, pulses, crackles and glitches are the only things you'll here on this disc. This doesn't sound as complex as it may seem, since they are kept in tune by the techno 4/4 drive formula. This is repeated during all the tracks, but in a different way every time; a repetition and improvisation collective. Even though the music consists of tiny sounds, it has enough to offer for the ear, especially when experienced with headphones.

This kind of releases are of course not meant for everyone. But this disc demonstrates what a future this new platform for dance music has. A fascinating environment of experimental sounds, warm textures and complex tones.