zymogen .net label

zym011/Stephen Walter - Monocline

12 Jan 2007

Stephen Walter isn't a new name for zymogen listeners as we already heard his collaboration with David Velez aka Lezrod on Data Transfer (zym007). In that track ("Ramute") there were evident recalls of his past works, in fact Stephen (under the monicker SW) had produced two idm gems for Retropublik some years ago, but since then nothing came out...until Monocline, a complete change of direction.
This album has a solid concept behind it, explained by the title; monocline is a term to indicate "a geologic structure in which all layers are inclined in the same direction".
These tracks could be interpreted as these different layers which match up in the monocline fold...composed with different simple elements, at last, are a totality of abstract substance. Music floats as a "unicum" and simply shifts, track after track, into various basic components: melody, deep silences, found sounds and pure sine waves.
"Newheart", "Before your Eyes" and "Rising" are emotive tracks built on warm pads moving through melodies in a complete absence of rhythm, very simple formula though, but the care which Stephen used to compose these melodies makes this simplicity something special.
The other side of the album is darker and more introspective: subtle piano notes sound in "Tone", random choir samples are matched with mechanical silences during "Green Shift", while "Section 1" and "Section 2" play with radio recordings and distant echoes of synthetic melodies.
The concept of the album will be cleared up only at the end, as every plane will collide in "Rising" and only one feeling will remain...serenity, the ideal monocline fold of everyone's life.