After recent releases through Glacial Movements and Traumgarten, Canadian-born musician John Sellekaers adds to the sprawling variety of his released material with ‘Folium‘ EP for Mexican/French label Oreille Gardée.
With a stated mission to release “promoting every singular form of homemade electronic music without any limitation in style”, Sellekaers’ disparate sonic tendencies — from groovy electro to fervent experimental music — is right at home on the label, who already sports names such as Takahiro Mukai and African Ghost Valley on the catalogue sheet. Oreille Gardée clearly don’t need people to understand their label’s English translation (‘Guarded Ear’) to demonstrate a broad and impeccable taste.
‘Folium‘ is a perfect example of homebrew electronics, a coarse mix of processed field recordings, which switches between convincing the listener of industrial, then rural, provenance. In any case, the sounds encased on this tape are crunchy and raw, and a perfect example of deep listening material from an artist capable of drawing out gold from synths just as much as from a field recorder.
‘Magnétite‘ demonstrates the confusing heritage of the sounds perhaps best, at one moment summoning visualisations of clunking factory production lines, then, under filtered noise and boosted resonance, generating images of swiftly-moving subaqueous landscapes. Although there’s little in the way of new harmonic introductions (no listing synths or bitcrushed drums), the minimal ingredients in the mix make for an engrossing listen to the open-minded.
‘Folium’ is scheduled for release 12 November via Oreilles Gardée. Order a copy from Bandcamp.
TRACKLIST
1. Née-la-Nuit
2. Fagne
3. Magnétite
4. Feu du Forêt
5. Crue
6. Tourbe