Sunroof – Electronic Music Improvisations, Vol. 2 (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Sunroof – Electronic Music Improvisations, Vol. 2 (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 40:19 minutes | 801 MB | Genre: Electronic, Ambient
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Mute

Mute founder Daniel Miller and legendary engineer Gareth Jones (Einstürzende Neubauten, Erasure, Yann Tiersen) vibe out in enviably well-stocked studios on a 2nd batch of improvisations.

The illustrious duo have used the Sunroof moniker for remixes dating back some 25 years to their rework of Can, and finally firmed up the project with original material on 2021’s ‘Electronic Music Improvisations Vol.1’. This next volume witnesses Sunroof following their nose for curious tones and pulses across eight parts of mercurial electronics that simply revel in the thrill of creation and the strangeness of electronic music for anyone who shares their fascination with wires and knobs. There’s no narrative or concept behind the release – just the sound of two boffins who know their kit inside out and fancy making some freaky nosies.

The results come to resemble a host of possible reference points ranging from the early electronics of Stockhausen or Dick Raaijmakers to more kosmik vectors of Conrad Schnitzler and the shapehifting quality of Kay Logan’s Otherworld works. They are diaristic pieces, sketched to tape canvas in-the-moment, and sprawling between the sloshing pulses of ‘January #2’, to club-adjacent freeform techno-kosmiche on ‘October’, taking in diced-up vox and spangled darkside noise on ‘July #2’, balletic kosmiche in ‘November’, and a collage of dial-strafing radio samples and alien electronics in ‘July #1’.

Quickly following their first full-length together after working behind the scenes for decades, Sunroof’s Daniel Miller (the founder of Mute) and Gareth Jones released Electronic Music Improvisations, Vol. 2 in 2023, two years after Vol. 1. Miller has always referred to Mute as an “accidental label,” which managed to take off after his “Warm Leatherette” single became a cult classic, and the Sunroof recordings seem to come together in a similarly spontaneous manner. The duo’s second batch has a bit less of a progressive electronic sound than the first, with a decreased presence of glimmering, euphoric arpeggios, but it’s still playful and exploratory in its own way. The opening piece “January #2” brings to mind Kluster more than anything produced since Mute was founded, surfacing on alien land and adjusting to the new atmosphere as distorted currents pulsate from several perspectives. “July #2” is all fragmented voices and modulating frequencies, a scrambled attempt at intergalactic communication. “October” is the most techno-adjacent track here, with dazzling synths sweeping over a steady trail of bitcrushed micro-beats. “July #1” begins with warped French radio transmissions, then fends off an aggressive attempt at an attack from an outside force. “January #1” is a direct prequel to the first track, and a return to the same planet of deformed drips and holographic life forms. – Paul Simpson

Tracklist:
01. Sunroof – January #2 (08:05)
02. Sunroof – July #2 (03:44)
03. Sunroof – November (06:49)
04. Sunroof – July #3 (01:29)
05. Sunroof – October (06:05)
06. Sunroof – September (04:17)
07. Sunroof – July #1 (03:29)
08. Sunroof – January #1 (06:17)

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