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Buyer Rating: 100.0% positive (30 ratings)

Phoenecia - Brownout - 28-Aug-07 10:40 PM
Criminally underrated! The best album released on Schematic (except for perhaps o9s full-length), with some of the best production Ive ever heard; even the album art is just about perfect. A series of fully realized ambient soundscapes (with some minimal dub/idm elements), and a radical departure from their earlier (and later) stuff. Like walking through cavernous office buildings in a deserted industrial city, in the middle of the night; the most concrete palpable presence of an atmosphere/mood evoked by sound that I can recall having heard ...

Ai Records - 15-Dec-06 07:43 AM
My first instinct was to dismiss Ai as a mediocre idm label which was popular only because it was run by graphic designers who really knew how to package derivative techno/idm hybrids, and also to release this derivative blandness (usually music made by their friends) in extremely limited quantities, thus increasing demand. Most Ai artists seem mediocre at first; somewhat bland middle-of-the-road electro, not breaking any ground, and not even redoing the classic electro sound in a particularly interesting way. Claro breaks this mold, but this seems like the exception that breaks the rule; one good artist, who subsequently left the label.

Theres probably some truth to all of these charges, but the fact remains that Ai are a very very good label; it definitely takes a few listens (especially for the compilations), but every release is definitely crafted with care, and will reward repeat listens. Their output has gotten even better in the last couple years, with Yunx, Jacen Solo, and the 2006 split EPs ... almost every release is worth hunting down. Ai really are recovering that classic electro sound; but its subtle. Be sure to allow time for these releases to sink in.

Sensiva - Giosun - 10-Oct-06 07:47 AM
Ai Records have wisely snatched up this Russian producer; one of the standout tracks from this album appears on the (extremely good) 2006 Ai compilation. Giosun is simply one of the best electronic albums Ive ever heard; the sound is familiar but unique. Boards of Canada are perhaps the only readily discernible reference point ... very warm production, nothing seems out of place. Most importantly, this music is beautiful, just absurdly beautiful; theres no abstract formalism here. Essential.

Yunx - 19-Oct-05 10:55 PM
I have yet to hear a bad release by these guys. In the Heat of the Night is their best effort yet, and probably the best album released thus far by AI --- a sort of pure Detroit simplicity, but then imagine that combined with Luke Vibert, if Vibert released a record for Skam (if that makes sense).

Freescha - Volume 1 - 18-Oct-05 04:08 AM
Easily my favorite release by Freescha; I listened to this album every night, last winter. A purity and simplicity that began to slowly go by the wayside, beginning with STCM; "Bulb" is probably their best song, period, and "Smokestack" is unlike any other track theyve done (except perhaps "The Silver Screen").

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