Scanner

Artist: Scanner
P: 2020
DIN 63
LTD 555 Copies
DiN label boss Ian Boddy who immediately contacted Rimbaud to invite him to produce an album for the highly respected DiN label. Rimbaud thus spent the next few days recording 90 minutes of new music using the very same set up he had used for this YouTube concert. Boddy & Rimbaud then curated these recordings to form this solo DiN debut Scanner album “An Ascent” (DiN63).
The nine tracks form a musical journey ranging from gentle ambient interludes through to pulsing machine like rhythms. There’s always a sense of detail in the sonic backdrop which is just out of reach. A sense of yearning that opens the album with the track “The Ascent” and flows through to the beautiful calm ending of the final track “Counterpointe”.
This is an inspiring album from this totally unique British artist and one that may have never come in to existence if it wasn’t for the strange times we live in. 

Artist: Scanner
P: 2022
DIN 72
LTD 500 Copies
The second album for the DiN imprint by British Electronic Musician Scanner sees Rimbaud utilising a different toolset from his first album, An Ascent (DiN63), released in July 2020. Here he focuses in on several Elektron instruments such as the Analog Four, Analog Rhythm and Digitakt. Whilst his debut album was forged live in his studio during the start of the global pandemic here Rimbaud was after a lighter, more optimistic tone. Rather prophetically Rimbaud states that this album was indebted to the work of the Ukranian film maker Laris Shepitko. Indeed the title of the sixth track “Artemovsk” references the birth place of Shepitko. Furthermore the title of the album, “The Homeland of Electricity”, is taken from her 1968 film which was commissioned by the government to celebrate the October Revolution’s 50th anniversary, but was rejected by the authorities for not being patriotic enough.

Artist: Ulrich Schnauss, Scanner, Tarwater, Sadier
P: 2021
Nanocluster Vol 1. is an album with some serious pedigree. It sees Immersion (aka Malka Spigel and Colin Newman of influential groups Minimal Compact and Wire respectively) collaborating with some of the finest left field artists of our era: Tarwater, Laetitia Sadier, Ulrich Schnauss and Scanner. The project was born out of a Brighton based club night, also called Nanocluster, run by Spigel and Newman alongside writer, broadcaster and DJ Graham Duff, and promoter Andy Rossiter. The club features a range of influential and cutting edge music acts. But the unique aspect of the evenings is that each show climaxes with a one off collaboration between Immersion and the headliners. The songs having been written and recorded in the studio in just three days prior to the performance - or one day in the case of Schnauss. "It could have just been a series of performances. " Says Newman. "But the fact that we had built the tracks in the studio for the performances means we had these recordings. " Says Spigel. The recordings have since been developed with Immersion heading up pro- duction duties. The result is a beautiful and unique album. "I think the really interesting thing is how different everybody is," says Spigel. "Both as people and creatively. " Immersion and Tarwater The German duo of Ronald Lippok and Bernd Jestram have created an impressive body of work. Yet their involvement with Immersion has opened out their sound, creating a more panoramic soundscape. The opening instrumental 'Ripples' is a gentle breathe of optimism, all purring tones and sun dazzled synths. Meanwhile, 'Mrs. Wood' is a dubby psychedelic shuffle, Lippok's vocal cool and assured over a fat bass line and skybound eastern melodics. It feels like a more spacious take on the Tarwater of albums such as 'Suns, Animals and Atoms'. The four musicians' 3rd collaboration is Nanocluster's most pop moment: with a heartfelt yet unsentimental lyric unfurling over feline rhythms, 'All You Cat Lovers' is a feel-good anthem for cat lovers everywhere. Immersion and Laetitia Sadier An original and distinctive presence in contemporary music, Sadier made her name with the inimitable Stereolab, but she's also created several impressive solo works. The instrumental 'Unclustered' sees Sadier's spidery guitar weaving through Immersion's lush web of synths drones. The following 'Uncensored' has a subtle melodic tug with a classic Spigel guitar line underpinning Sadier's sweet yet worldly wise vocal. 'Riding the Wave' is another feel good song, swapping between Newman's plaintive vocal, and Spigel's vocal and Sadier's backing vocals. With it's uplifting chorus: 'Things have a way of working out' 'Riding The Wave' feels like it might be the sound of the summer we've all been waiting for. Immersion & Ulrich Schnauss A highly respected solo artist, as well as being a member of Tangerine Dream, Schnauss' skill with electronics is legendary. The opening 'Remember Those Days On The Road' skips along on a rimshot rhythm with Spigel's honeyed vocal telling a tale of life on tour. Yet it is far removed from such usual fare. This feels vulnerable and flecked with melancholy. 'Skylarks' opens with a lattice of arpeggios before a gently nag- ging guitar enters and everything takes a turn for the sublime. 'So Much Green' is everything you'd hope a collaboration between Newman, Spigel and Schnauss could be. A constantly spiralling urban-kosmisch, with Spigel's plangent bass anchoring the celestial sounds. The addition of her wordless backing vocals and recordings of real birdsong only serve to elevate the mood further. Immersion & Scanner Scanner - aka Robin Rimbaud - is one of the most prolific and diverse artists currently working in contemporary music. Spigel and Newman have of course collaborated extensively with Rimbaud before: alongside Max Franken in the art-pop group Githead. But this is something very different. Their opening piece together: 'Cataliz' is the album's moodiest moment. With it's serpentine synth drones it sounds like the soundtrack to a mysterious thriller. The rich pulsing 'Metrosphere' recalls Immersion's early work whilst adding another layer of grainy uncertainty. The closing 'The Mundane and the Profound' opens with a "Rimbaud scanned" recording of an irritated flight attendant but this is eventually subsumed by a simple yet emotive piano figure: a gentle and touching end to a unique collection of songs. Nanocluster Vol. 1 is a testament to a remarkable synergy between a diverse assembly of strongly individual talents. The fact that it not only succeeds, but excels should be cause for celebration.

Artist: V/A
P: 2022
DIN 70
LTD 500 Copies
INDEX07 is the seventh DiN compilation album and includes two tracks each from the titles DiN61 - 69. The artists on show this time are Ian Boddy, Nigel Mullaney, Dave Bessell, Scanner, Lyonel Bauchet and collaborations between Dave Bessell & Parallel Worlds and Ian Boddy & Markus Reuter. As with the previous six DiN samplers label boss Ian Boddy has mixed and cross-faded the 18 tracks into a continuous ambient mix that not only showcases the albums featured on the release but presents an exciting and varied title in its own right. It also highlights the varied and intriguing music that the DiN label offers on its releases from deep analogue synth grooves through vibrantly melodic instrumentals to powerful, epic ambient atmospheres. An intoxicating mix of the old and new beautifully presented in a slimline cardboard wallet with an extra flap which just adds to the value and collectibility of this release.Since the previous sampler album, iNDEX06 (DiN60) released in July 2019, DiN has not only celebrated its 20th anniversary but has also released its 100th album with “Nevermore” from label boss Ian Boddy. These are significant milestones for a niche independent electronica label with DiN finally getting some of the recognition it so justly deserves.

Artist: V/A
P: 2023
DIN 80
LTD 500 Copies
iNDEX08 is the eight DiN compilation album and includes two tracks each from the titles
DiN71 – 79. The artists on show this time are Polypores, Scanner, Ian Boddy, d’Voxx,
Parallel Worlds, Surface 10, Node and Lyonel Bauchet as well as a collaboration between
Ian Boddy & Erik Wøllo. As with the previous seven DiN samplers label boss Ian Boddy has mixed and cross-faded the 18 tracks into a continuous ambient mix that not only showcases the albums featured on the release but presents an exciting and varied title in its own right. It also highlights the varied and intriguing music that the DiN label offers on its releases from deep analogue synth grooves through vibrantly melodic instrumentals to powerful, epic ambient atmospheres. An intoxicating mix of the old and new beautifully presented in a slimline cardboard wallet with an extra flap which just adds to the value and collectibility of this release. With a total release catalogue now of 118 titles the DiN label is continuing to innovate and evolve as it heads toward 2024 when it will celebrate 25 years of releasing quality instrumental electronic and ambient synth music.