Album Reviews

Roy's Iron DNA - Men In Wax Jackets ATR CD 037 SOUNDCHECK NOVEMBER 2 - Roys Iron Dna SOUNDCHECK have been big supporters of this band since they were Ordinary Son. With a new name (it's an anagram puzzle fans) Ian Thompson -singer/guitars/beats has upped the ante for the Edinburgh-based band. The album will be helped by its release on fizzing-electro label Alex Tronic Records home of Keser and AsA. With Ian's in-tune Ian Brown blissed-out voice and chilled out beats this is an album for down tempo moments or the ironing. Album opener Steppin' On has been flown in from Ibiza with its great lyric: 'what do you think we are?/some kind of wannabe/some kind of celebrity" How many clubbers have thought that of each other? Quite simply this is a fantastic album. It mixes beats, breaks, trip hop, eighties synth and chill-out as well as any of the chart stars you can name. For those who like to dance, even in your living room, this is essential. Their album Men In Wax Jackets is out on Monday. The band play Po Na Na, Edinburgh tomorrow (Sat). www.roysirondna.co.uk

Roy’s Iron DNA
A band at obvious right angles to the trebly guitar wielding, drainpipe wearing, side-shed sporting indie spods but that’s what makes their brooding racket so appealing. Like The Beta Band on serious downers, they conjure up the same spooky dread as Massive Attack’s Mezzanine with a bit less paranoia with a sound that blends all manner of wobbly, quaking electronic trinkets with understated live instrumentation. At the heart of this stramash however, are songs. Good songs.
The Hive, Edinburgh, Fri 30 Nov; King Tut’s, Glasgow, Sun 2 Dec. The album Men in Wax Jackets is out now on Alex Tronic Records.

Malcolm Jack and Mark Robertson present five more aspirant acts to look out for

The List Nov 07

Roy`s Iron DNA -men in wax jackets review ,Is this Music Magazine

Men In Wax Jackets (Alex Tronic) There’s a very Stone Roses-esque swagger to this album. This works beautifully, as there’s a real groove on display here. There’s a lovely, moody undercurrent to the songs here, making this an album of real force and power. Fierce, vibrating basslines shake the floor from under your feet while songs like ‘Silent Majority’ have hooks that linger in the brain long after the disc has finished spinning. This alone should make the album appeal to those of us who crave something a little deeper and darker in our sounds. Unlike many recent debutantes, who have crammed all of their best ideas onto one disc, in the hope that they’ll work, the strengths here are pace and measurement. These guys sound like they mean business. This is an album of real heart, venom and power, which deserves to be heard by as wide an audience as possible. Jonathan Muirhead

ROYS IRON DNA
Men In Wax Jackets (Album)
Released 12th November
Odd name, but very pleasing sounds. Roy’s Iron
DNA play super-chilled, ambient electronica
and glitchy trip-hop set to vocals spookily akin
to The Stone Roses. Psychedelic guitars and cool
beats add to the experience. While it’s most likely
to be described as a post-club album, it actually
reminds me more of snowscapes and the mountains,
more woolly hats and Roni Size than Ibiza
sunsets. Perhaps I’m just pining for my winter
holiday.
Narc Magazine Nov 07

ELECTRONICA

Various Artists

Alex Tronic Records: Volume One
(Alex Tronic Records)

Rather than looking to Detroit or Paris, this compilation is a reminder that Edinburgh’s electronic music scene is alive and well. The first in a series of chill-out albums produced by Alex Tronic on his eponymous Leith label, showcasing ambient and electro artists, the album includes several lush, laidback moments, and is a useful round-up of Scottish artists poised for big things. Under a dreamy and euphoric umbrella of electronica, there’s room for Joe Acheson Quartet’s ‘Celtic Harp’, a floaty, jazz-soaked soundscape of breaks and rolling drums; English producer Marvin Wilson’s piano-heavy trip hop, and Scottish hip hop from MC Solareye of the DoPE Soundsystem, who has hooked up with Hooverfish on ‘The Rain’.

(Claire Sawers)

Published in issue 579 of The List (4 July 2007)

Alex Tronic Records Volume1 - Various Artists

A brilliant exhibition of talent. The collection begins with some quality trip-hop by Strangest Thing Dr A & Naz-Boogie Down is a classy way to start of any album . The album moves through some ritzy tunes with El Bib taking it to reggae and dub fans,then some nice Scottish hip -hop -tronica coming from Hooverfish and Mc Solareye,much missed since his performances with D.o.P.E ceased. Sixpeopleaway have a gorgeous glitchy ,acoustic number,followed by Keser with a wonderfully rich instramental/electronica piece. A few tracks later some squeaky clean down-tempo material from Pockets of Resistance slots in nicely .Alex Tronic save the best for last with AsA (pronounced :Orsa) injecting Picture Perfect Dreams . This is a band which will be turning heads in the coming year . On the whole the album is extremely varied . The only thing that doesn`t change is the production quality and raw talent which is consistent throughout

Pete Burns, Beats : The Skinny Magazine :June 07

Scotish-based music producer Alex Tronic highlights his relatively new label`s Chillout aesthetic in the first of a proposed series of compilation CDs .This is certainly an eclectic and engaing debut compilation,servicing a diverse selection of sub-genres from Dub Hip Hop and Irish Folk to Groove and Electronica yet , still predominately Chillout .As with most compilations ATR Vol1 has its rough edges , but the majority of the tracks ( by a host of previously undiscovered artists) delivers a consistency and quality that`s well woth checking out - especially if your into scouting fresh electronic talent.

7/10 Danny Turner , Future Music June 07

ADD THESE TO YOUR PLAYLIST: El Bib , Dub Vizier:Marvin Wilsom, Velocity Experience, Pockets of Resistance, Glow.

A JUST amazing compilation from Scots electronica label Alex Tronic Records.
The first in what they hope to be a series of compilations features AsA, Pockets of Resistance and Keser, who are well-known to Souncheck. The album opens with the chilled-out dub bass of Boogie Down by Strangest Thing, Dr A & Naz.
Then there's the trumpet reggae of El Bib's Dub Vizier and the hip hop folk of The Rain, a collaboration between Hooverfish and McSolareye. An incredible album that dazzles the senses.

Rick Fulton :The Daily Record / Soundcheck :Friday 29th April 07

Label: Alextronic Records

This compilation from the Alex Tronic Record label sets out pretty successfully to show us that Scottish music isn’t just about young, hairy Scamps with drug problems who can’t get US visas or arrogant knobheads who think they can bash Bloc Party after having one ‘hit’ and shagging Kylie. (All right, there’s no actual evidence for that ‘shagging’ part, it’s just a hunch, but if there’s soon a little Kylie-Calvin hybrid running around don’t say you weren’t warned). The thirteen tracks here range from rap (Hooverfish feat. Mc Solareye) to prog (Keser) to reggae (Et Bib) to trip-hop (Pockets of Resistance) but they all have some kind of mellowness to them to make this a manageable listen and not just some weird non-John Cusack mix-tape that doesn’t hang together. Et Bib’s ‘Dub Viser’ is essentially an ‘Unfinished Sympathy’ update with one key difference – Scottish rapping. Initially it just doesn’t work. Of all the languages and dialects that would suit rap you’d probably have Scottish as rank last, well, all right maybe some Kazakhstan guy would sound weirder but still, it’s an odd mix. But somehow it grows on you and just fits, and that’s true of a lot of stuff on this record. ‘Horus Lives’ by Keser first sounds like an Explosions in the Sky version of ‘Some Might Say’ and although after repeat listens it can still be summed up like that, the thought becomes a lot more appealing. What next a Mars Volta version of ‘Country House’? Well no, it’s actually Marvin Wilson doing his cheesy sex-music-meets-Propellerheads copy of Faithless’ ‘Drifting Away’ (you know, that tune from ‘Trigger Happy TV’ when the spies are lurking in the park.) . When you’ve got guys as potentially great as the Sufjan Stevens-meets Ebb-with-a-bit-of-Damien-Rice-thrown-in Sixpeopleaway then it all becomes worthwhile. On the basis of ‘Celtic Harp’ then Joe Acheson Quartet are also worth having a Google for with their lovely Portishead-Slow Dazzle mix. Although too much of this compilation blurs into one, this is still a perfectly good chill-out album that would have made a solid addition to the ‘All Back to Mine’ series. For more information you can visit: http://www.alextronicrecords.co.uk Review by: Owen McKeon June 07 www.glasswerk.co.uk

 

Keser

Keser :Esoteric Escape

FANTASTIC to get some electronica through the Sound Check mailbox, especially when it's of such high quality. The debut album from duo David Reid (bass) and Kevan Whitley (guitar /keys/ programming/ vocals), it's music for Sky HD - expansive, lush and colourfully hypnotic.

While much of the ethereal soundscapes would be perfect for watching sunsets in Ibiza or travelling on a bus through the Highlands in winter, at its heart are melodies.

Esoteric Escape isn't all about beats and layers of synths. There are great songs holding the tracks together.

So 4_Cycles conjures up a vision of crystals with its warm guitar. The album's highlight, Frozen Fireworks, has a trance beat, Kevan's repeated vocal samples and laughter, and a Keane-style melody.

A must for anyone who likes chill-out. www.keser.co.uk

Rick Fulton :The Daily Record / Soundcheck :Friday 8th Dec 06

This is an album that will take you to heaven. If you have an ear for Sigur Ros or Ulrich Schnuass this is another recording to add to your collection.Simple electronic melodies glide you through the whole experience,then with the introduction of heavily distorted guitar riffs you can`t do anything other than go with the music and kaleidescope to a euphoric high .Try listening tp Page 21 with your eves closed.
**** itunes

Inspired by Glasgow's Underground guitar music scene, David Reid (bass) and Kevan Whitley (guitar, keyboards and vocals) founded post-rock electronic duo Keser. Fear not though, as they are not just another fake Mogwai, but they actually manage to achieve in their tracks a new sound drenched in guitar-based electronica. From the soothing rhythms of 'FM Rocker' to the angsty and mournfully elegant electro-cirlicues of '4_Cycles', Keser prove they are able to explore the syntax of electronica with awe and excitement. Sounding like a cross between a softer version of Macrocosmica with a touch of Aereogramme, Keser combine electronic tenebrous dissonance, bass-heavy rhythms and a dose of vitriol with contemplative guitars. 'Lost for Days' switches from the ghostly to the spaced out while 'Destination:Destiny' is definitely the best track on the album thanks to its crescendo of sophisticated charming sounds and its noisecore ferocity. A band worth investigating.

Is This Music (AB) Dec 06

Esoteric Escape" (Alex Tronic Records)

One of the main reasons for starting this blog was to find and help promote great Scottish music. Although I have posted on a handful of acts already, I thought it was time to step it up a gear. First up is Keser, who were recommended to me by New York based blog I Work At Initech.

I am preplexed at how I managed to let a band such as Keser slip under my radar, and it took an American based blogger to point them in my direction. The Edinburgh based duo create a sound that masses together the intesity of Mogwai, Boards of Canada style synths and inventive programming. They also share some similarities with Glasgow based Errors.

"Esoteric Escape" was released in late August through Scottish indie label Alex Tronic, and is a thoroughly enjoyable affair. It kicks off with the pulsing keys of "FM Rocker", before their electronica influences come to the fore after a minute or so with glitchy beats forcing their way into the mix.

"4 Cycles" continues this trend, although this time it contains a more prominent guitar melody that gives an almost Four Tet aura. However, the duo show they are a big fan of shoegazer bands such as My Bloody Valentine as a huge wall of guitar distortion hits around the 3 minute mark. The track ends with crazy Aphex style programming.

The first real highlight occurs on the fifth track, "In The Next Beginning". Starting with obscured and intertwined vocal samples, the duo portray a satisfying ability of combining euphoric synths, huge wall-of-sound guitars and solid chunky beats.

Being form Scotland, it is hard for bands not to be influenced by what has gone before them. Keser have certainly studied the dynamics of bands such as Mogwai and Aerogramme, but also retain their own identity.

"Rolling V2" would be more at home on a Boards Of Canada album than a Mogwai release, while "Frozen Fireworks" is introduced with pounding Rich Hawtin-esque beats and a sample of someone talking in A Scottish accent, that is a lot less harsher than my Glaswegian dialect.

Again the duo mix those strings, beats and guitars to great effect. If anybody knows, n5md artist, Bitcrush they will know what I am talking about. "Frozen Fireworks" would have been my favourite track on the album, if it wasn't for the next one.

"Destination:Destiny" immediately made me take notice as soon as I heard it. This one I recommend playing at full volume to get the greatest impact. It is a slow-burner (around four minutes of build up) but it is well worth the wait. As mammoth sounding guitars are unleashed around after the 4 minutes . It is as forceful as anything Mogwai have ever recorded and is certainly one of those 'hair on the back' of the neck moments.

Things are toned down slightly for the remaining three tracks. Album closer, "Kontrol/ Kaos" is an apt name for the track, as it starts calmly beofre descending into the chaos of those signature guitars.

"Esoteric Escape" is an album that can be listened to with headphones (where you will hear the intircate programming and subtle vocal samples) or you can also play it at full volume to annoy the neighbours with huge distorted guitar chords. Either way you will get a lot from Keser. A welcome edition to the scottish music scene.

Boring Machines disturb sleep -web

 

Keser - Esoteric Escape
Keser are a 2 piece electronic outfit from Edinburgh, and this is their 12 track debut on Alextronic records.
They cite Mogwai and Aerogramme among others in their influences, as may be expected, but on this release things are mainly kept below the raucous level and more on a chilled out plane. The opening track ‘FM Rocker’ is a prime example of this, though it does give way, Orbital style, to the slightly more menacing ‘4_Cycles’.
‘Page 20’ has an intro not unlike The Postal Service, maybe at a push Dntel, but definitely Jimmy Tamburello sounding. Which believe me is no bad thing.
The production is slick, as is the whole presentation of the band. The 12 tracks could have been slimmed to 9 or 10 without much grief, but I’d listen to it again and on the whole it’s a thumbs up for Keser. Would be interesting to catch their live show.

www.crookedrain.co.uk

Keser hails from Scotland, and you can tell that almost immediately from listening to their debut release “Esoteric Escape.” A one-sentence review of this album would be that it sounds like Slint or My Bloody Valentine playing a group of songs by the likes of Boards of Canada and Of Montreal. The two-piece band, comprised of Kevan Whitly (guitar & electronics) and David Reid (bass), manage to pull off a sound that at times reminds me of Air (“Lost for Days”), and Aphex Twin (“4_Cycles”), with slightly more pronounced guitar riffs.
While much of the album does not contain vocals, in keeping with most post-rock (Scottish) outfits, when there are passages with vocals they blend in nicely and add to the overall mood of the music.

Overall the album is more than just an interesting listen throughout, as Keser manage to make shoe-gazer style music in a mostly electronic/keyboard driven medium.The album is definitely worth checking out, especially if you’re looking for some electronica-fed post-rock!

Sean Clancy www.in tech .com

 

Keser explode onto the Scottish scene with their debut album 'Esoteric Escape' and bring forth a new progressive form of guitar-based seraphic electronica from the sublime Edinburgh imprint Alex Tronic Records. Ambient and ethereal sounds elevate subtly, building up into crushing waves and returning back again. The vaporous instrumentals and melodic chimings are only anchored by the electro beats and unconditional ambience throughout. This 'music as a metaphor for life' mentality is evident on every track. 'Esoteric Escape' has captured both their live feel and refined recordings into 12 tracks and diverges into the realms of post rock melodic electonica. You can hear samples of '4_Cycles' and 'Teach' on www.alextronicrecords.co.uk. www.keser.co.uk

www.nemis.org

 

'Esoteric Escape', the debut album from Scottish duo Keser, is an impressive stab at fitting in with the genre of chilled-out post-rock electronica mastered by fellow countrymen Boards Of Canada. Though difficult to enjoy in one sitting (it's just too damn blissed-out!), it ticks every box to ensure post-rock success: most songs are built around a hypnotic repeated guitar line, the album's smothered in floaty noise, and there's even the standard Godspeed-esque apocalyptic spoken-word vocals on 'Frozen Fireworks'. When it works best, like on gentle opener 'FM Rocker' (surely the most misleading song title of all time) or the Explosions In The Sky-style 'Page 21 (Reasons To Believe)' ,is up there with brilliant influences. It takes a lot of focus to treat it as an album rather than really lovely background music. Too often the album simply floats off with little to hold your attention. . But while you shouldn't expect anything new, it'd be unfair to dismiss some of the divine work on here. Post-rock and electronica conniseurs will find much to love, plus of course it's always good to find chillout music which has no intent to cynically cash in on the Mondeo market. Mike Mantin: GODISINTHETVZINE

KESER are a Scots post rock duo who, like the best artists of the genre, mix their guitar leanings in equal part with electronica. Bold to enter such an arena, as there are so many skilful exponents not only in Scotland but also Scandinavia, which I'll extend to include Finland and Iceland. (Be sure to understand that I love the music, simply. Geography interests me far less, although I am beginning to wonder if there isn't some magic in the North Sea water!)

There is something rarified about this ambitious debut. High altitude, far-reaching, call it what you will. This is a polished, sophisticated release -- an aural panorama in twelve parts, bound together by a retro-futuristic ambience evocative of airports, cities and technology. A high speed, wide-screen dream. I think we may need our passports.

The music itself blends Boards of Canada sentimentalism with the romantic imagery of The Blue Nile. Add a dash of the cheerier side of Mogwai's guitar pickings and you've pretty much got Esoteric Escape. (That's the Young Team rather than the Come On Die Young Mogwai. Think mischief rather than melancholy.) Reading back, I realize all three of those luminaries are themselves also Scottish. No escaping shadows of such magnitude, I guess? And frankly, why would you want to?

The album opens with a couple of mood-setting pieces. All the aural cues are there. Sit down, strap in and pay close attention to the safety demonstration. Guitars come to the boil nicely but it's KESER's brave beats that ties it all together. Third up, a track to luxuriate in. The lulling hypnosis of Lost For Days pours out of my speakers like dry ice, and begins to envelope me slowly from the ankles upwards. Narrated by its bass and flirting with dub sensibilities, this could almost have been a Seefeel track. Lovely.

In the next beginning marks the start of the album's defining phase. This searing epic drops me nicely into Rolling V2, a modern spin on the gentle, early works of Durutti Column executed with panache. Teach could have been a Stafrænn Hákon and Ulrich Schnauss collaboration . Considering it is also one of the less notable tracks on the album, I think that shows the quality of what we're talking about here. Teach does however lead nicely into another of the album highlights, Frozen fireworks. (You know it's going to be a standout from the title!). Pure Schnauss again, but with a twist in the form of a neat voiceover.

Destination destiny is a mere formulaic lull in proceedings - another rocketing climax. I prefer the KESER that isn't afraid to explore their quieter side. Yet on Page 21, guitars twinkle like a Christmas Eve sky. The atmosphere is of joy and starry-eyed wonder. A track M83 would have been proud to call their own. It shows though, how effortlessly KESER can step from one guise to the next. One moment they are a soundtrack for 70's Boeing Documentary, and the next they are Richard Dreyfus entering the Mothership in Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind!

On this slick debut they've proven they can fly anything. Now, where will they take us?

Review by Brett Spaceman

www.evilsponge.org/albums/Keser

Marvin Wilson Being Here Reviews

- Being Here ATRCD050 -By Rick Fulton The Daily Record 4/4/08
A DEBUT album from the home of Edinburgh electronica label Alex Tronic Records. Marvin Wilson starts his 10 track album with Imagine Instead. It’s a bit dodgy to begin with, some old synths sounds of a voice that could be from a dentist’s chill out tape. But stick with it as the drums and bass kick it a tune develops getting better and better with a guitar riff breaking through the walls of sound. After that the instrumental tunes just get better and better. Before Flying is hard house trance, A New Day is Kraftwerk back on the Autobahn, At The Beginning is gritty metal synth, Boomerang has the alarm noise of classic Underworld. Two blissed out tracks Being Here is Not Being Alone and Living Spaces close the album calming everything down. Being Here is an album for those afternoons after the night before.
www.alextronicrecords.co.uk

 

Pockets of Resistance

Album Reviews

pockets of resistance Climate Change

Begins with the sublime dreamy ambient beats of `Duality `, whose melodies and lush atmospherics are redolent of prime Future Sound of London . It focusses on techno ,dubby and downbeat with a distinctly 90s feel . Worth the price of entry for track one alone though;

Ben Murphy Dj Magazine

Mint Track- `Duality ` Jan 07 Issue 431

THIS is the debut album from pockets of resistance which is actually an alais for Edinburgh DJ/Producer Arch Campbell .

It`s a blissed out electro feast . A perfect ambient album for chilled out summer afternoons or listening to in Ibiza after those all -nighters . There are no quick two minute stompers her . Album opener Duality ,at just under nine minutes and sounds like a horror film sound track filled with menace and paranoia, while Hanging Garden is like a great lost George Harrison track filled with wailing stretched out sitars .Dynasty ,with it`s Happy Mondays-style piano is an ambient Madchester remix.It blends into the clubby Plastic,with its driving poptastic rhythms that remind you of Underworld . Dance of Death is trance ,ramping up the beats .

Rick Fulton The Daily Record

Metro News Mon June 19th 2006

Producers collective Pockets of Resistance release the hypnotic debut album Climate Change next Monday on Edinburgh`s Alex Tronic Records. You can download samples from the website and ten percent of the price goes to Amnesty International.

Nadine McBay

Pockets Of Resistance releases its debut album on the newly emerging Scottish Record Label, Alex Tronic Records. DJ/Producer Arch Campbell is the man behind Climate Change, a moody album of slow electronic grooves.
The album opens with the laid back vex of Duality, where crisply programmed beats play to a rumbling bassline and sulking synth tones. Hanging Garden is darker, with creaking synths atop a woozy bassline and tingling percussion – again conjuring up an interesting atmosphere.
Dynasty is listener-friendly; a chill-out track with bright piano tones striking over lapping beats and shadowy background synths and sounds. Plastic then changes tack completely, with fast-paced club beats and techno-style spectral tones spiralling around sampled female vocal bursts.
Climate Change is certainly an eclectic album, shifting moods wildly, as Bunker dips into more ambient territories, with shadowy synth reverbs flitting across piano spills and more sampled, chopped-up vocal snippets.
 The remainder of the album flirts with  moody atmospheric tracks, bathed in reverbed speech samples, and closes with End Of…, an enjoyable chillout instrumental, enhanced by Chris Coyne’s tenor sax bursts.
Barcode Magazine

POCKETS OF RESISTANCE Climate Change CD, AlexTronic Records, 2006

Pockets Of Resistance is a project by the Scottish producer Alex (Arch) Campbell. It is his goal to mix dance and ambient. The cd begins quite well and builds up in “Duality”: a fine atmosphere and not too fussy rhythms. It sounds a bit like the music Ian Boddy makes nowadays. The slightly jazzy “Hanging Garden” is also a nice track. After this, the music becomes much more simple: a dance rhythm here, a piano there. Much too standard. In “Dance Of Death” the rhythms are raised. “The Sunshine Days” and “End Of…” are more quiet but could, with vocals, suit MTV. .

Paul Rijkens E-dition Magazine Netherlands

Website: www.alextronicrecords.co.uk

The Chronicle Interview

This month sees the release of the excellent ` Climate Change ` a new album of ambient soundscapes from electronic artists Pockets Of Resistance . The nine-track album encompasses an icy brew of atmospheric synth ,burbling rhythm and interlocking sheets of noise as well as snatches of ghostly vocals piano and saxophone. The CD bears the influence of The Orb is the work of Dj Archie Campbell . Although a stalwart of the London 90s scene , Pockets of Resistance is a new project for Campbell who decided to make music on computers after becoming disilusioned with playing in bands. He explained "The name came about as a joke after the begining of the Iraq war It was the BBCs favourite phrase for a while". Going on to describe the album Cambell revealed" I`ve tryed to create a cd with a beginning a middle and an end, it is still quite diverse ."You`ve got tracks which are more full on and other things which people can chill out to" . " Radio stations are getting interested and we intend to do a launch night to celebrate the release. " I have done dj sets in the past down south and we will be doing more to promote the cd . " I think its got a good chance if it gets heard . Climate Change is out on Alex Tronic on June 26th .

Fergus Grierson

ÅsA Album Reviews

 

Album Review by Jimmy Logan

www.glasswerk.co.uk

Music for centuries has served a multitude of different purposes. Back in the middle ages, it was part of an "oral tradition". In which it was used to convey news of heroic deeds and similar tales to lighten up the souls of the common good folk. Part of its purpose was to deliver news to the masses. Bear in mind, in those days, very few could read. This was the one of the few forms of communicating with the outside world - singers, musicians and the growing band of "Holy" men being another.

In this modern age we are bombarded by 24/7 blanket news coverage. We're fed an hourly diet of war, flood, famine, death and destruction, along with the exploits of the talent-less and falsely famous with little in the way of good news. It is an age where things appear to change minute by minute. One thing stands true to the test of time. Music still offers an escape for those willing to succumb to its charms.

This album carries on this musical tradition. On/Off by Åsa (pronounced Orsa) offers the listener pure delightful escapism. If you like to close your eyes, open your ears and free your mind in pools of relaxation. Then this album may be just the tonic for you. The combined talents of Åsa Seljestad , Paul Croan have created a body of music that is overloaded with imagery, it will transport the willing listeners to far off wondrous places.

From its' opening bars. On/Off is a beautifully constructed and thoughtfully prepared album. Seljestad's Ciccone-esque vocals coupled with Croan and Windram's imaginative, skilfully, multi-layed electronic sound-scapes; work together with an exquisiteness that you cannot fail to notice. They compliment each other with an almost innate understanding. This no more apparent than in the songs "Breathe Again" and " Superflygirl." The former may place you adrift heading for a rocky coastline or may even as it did with me, take you to a castle top by a loch with an eerie yearning voice filling the mist-covered valley below. While you picture a scene in your mind, behind the vocals cometh electronic bagpipes chased by a wild wailing banshee loop that alludes to the danger leaping up from below. A fantasy driven track that is another measure of the aforementioned successful collaboration and all round musical inventive partnership.

While the latter "Superflygirl" is trip-hopping, honey dripping slice of temptation. It will have the strong and weak alike willing to sample the fruit of this (dare I say it…) forbidden forest. Sheer musical temptation, to rank along side that Birkin and Gainsbourg erotic classic, a masterclass in feminine seduction reminiscent of a kiss giving epic.

In "Fallen Angel" the merest of electronic hints is enough to take you off to eastern lands where a sinister twist awaits.

Whilst "Amsterdam" affords your mind's eye a journey through this most of liberal location. Blinking headlights and flashing neons colouring the background of this animated instrumental track. That is what makes this album enjoyable and clever. It just takes the simplest of hints to transport you away. This album weaves a full emotional tapestry. On/Off truly is deserving of a world-wide stage.

Del Naja and Co it could be argued lead the field in chilled trip hop. However, Åsa will turn you ON and take you OFF somewhere into the distance reaches of your imaginations. That cannot be a bad thing.

 

Music/Records Album Review -The List Magazine Edinburgh

Named after their Norwegian/Welsh singer and lyricist Åsa Seljestad, Edinburgh based-outfit are a trio, completed by producer Alex Tronic and a man known only as Mysterious Baz.
Seljestad has a breathy vocal style that melds jazz and a more familiar electronic diva styling. Think Beth Gibbons, Alison Goldfrapp with a bit more reserve, or even Kate Bush on a quiet day. Musically, songs like 'Traditional Arms', the drum and bass driven 'This Machine' and the somnambulant 'Feel Alone' are damn polished......it's clearly a lovingly created package, placing ÅsA alongside the likes of Zero 7 or Lamb".......

 

Album Review from Norwegian Newspaper Haugesunds Avis, Norway (Truls Horvei)

"Åsa Seljestad is the lead singer of Electronica trio ÅsA who are based in Edinburgh.
Their debut album "On/Off" is definately worth listening to especially Seljestad's distinctive voice and lyrics which play an essential part. She can sometimes sound Björk esque but definately has her own special style. The vocals are wrapped in a melodic electronica filled with sound effects beats and rolling soundscapes.
Sometimes a dim light runs through these songs and at other times they are dark and sensual....
"On/Off" at it's best is a great album release".

 

Album Review by Rick Fulton Daily Record U.K

 

ASA On/Off

WITH Goldfrapp's Oh La La in every trendy advert going, this Edinburgh-based three-piece electro outfit are surely hoping there is a move for more femalefronted synth pop. Singer Asa Seljestad owes much to Shara Nelson, the singer who sang on Massive Attack's Unfinished Sympathy before releasing her own solo album What Silence Knows. First track True Perfection sounds very like Nelson's Down That Road, with angst-ridden lyrics and the trip hop made famous by early Massive Attack. Of the 11 tracks it's when the trio hit the bmps they show most promise - as on This Machine or stand-out track Breathe Again.

Alex Tronic Reviews

 

Alex Tronic has released and licenced music to many labels notably Koyote/Peyote Records and Cherry Red Records . He has also dabbled in scoring the music for film and TV. His seminal Obsessional/Mind Matters disc is still attracts enquiries 6 yrs later.We have decided to put a unreleased mp3 on the site while we develope our label release shedule. Famed for his laid back grooves the man is currently working on some tunes that will be announced soon!

Alex Tronic Reviews

Alex Tronic - Mind Matters , Alex Tronic - Obsessional ,

OUR HUMBLE OPINION: Chaos Existence www.chaosexistence.net Wow!! What are these sounds? Alex Tronic delivers some truly unique stuff here (hear) ;). From breaks to trip hop and drum and bass. 'Mind Matters' is a trancey breakbeat journey with some funky scratch elements and spaced out vocal samples. 'Obsessional' slows things down to a trip hop beat, while maintaining a nice groove through a deep bassline. Scratching is thrown into the mix as well as ambient vocal samples. Constant high pitched cyclical sounds dominate the upper regions of this track. The beat doubles up halfway through and adds a nice drum and bass feel to the rest of the track.

"Chilled Breakbeat Bliss".

Future Music

Hip hop meets ambient in this exciting production, with 'Mindmatters', being filled with suprises. Have Joy Division ever been sampled in a breaks track? I doubt it"

The List Magazine

"Alex Tronic is like pulling a great white fluffy duvet over yourself"

Cooled Magazine

"A dazzling trip through soulfull sounds, is the best way to describe Alex Tronic. It will wash over you as you sit back and chill. A new beginning, a turning point in musical education. Euphoric, warm and very original"

Koyote Records Press Release

 

ALEX TRONIC RECORDS / RECORDING STUDIO
11 Hillside Crescent Edinburgh EH7 5EA
SCOTLAND, UK.

Recording Studio : Tel: 0044( 0}131 556 5311 / Office 0131 554 3473 Mob : 07904713833

www.alextronicrecords.co.uk