Here's a disc that came out of nowhere for me. "Northern European" artist Föy follows the "faceless techno artist" cliche of producing work without any hint of identity on the part of the creator. There is little to no information about Föy anywhere on the internet or on this release. The CDR comes with simple, pretty black and white artwork in a slimline jewelcase. Other than stating that Föy creates "microsounds/textures/pulsescapes" there is no hint as to who Föy might be. Why am I so curious as to the identity of the mysterious Föy? It's really quite simple. Föy's Mandala is one of the best new artist releases I've heard in a very, very long time.

Mandala is called an ep by the folks at Zero Music, but, clocking in at just over forty-five minutes, crams an entire world of fascinating, melodic sound environments in a relatively (for neo-traditional ambient artists) short span of time. In an age where a CD isn't satisfying to some listeners if it is under seventy minutes, Föy creates (with the help of James Johnson) a delicate, powerful statement in under fifty. Not only does this show a mastery of restraint, but it also proclaims an artist who knows exactly what he is doing--keeping the listener hitting the repeat button of his or her CD player, all the while wishing there were forty-five more minutes of this masterful ambient music.

I don't think it's hyperbole (ok, perhaps a little bit) to say that Mandala could very easily be the CD Tetsu Inoue never released when he decided to move from the smooth post-techno sounds of Organic Cloud and Electro Harmonix (with Jonah Sharp) to the much more difficult and experimental terrain of Slow & Low. Mandala is a fascinatingly layered recording, featuring organic and electronic atmospheres, treated piano (which sounds suspiciously like Johnson's work--he appears on this CD, so perhaps this is his contribution), chiming repeated melodies, vaporous synth textures, and glitchy drum programming (albeit at a very slow (and low) tempo).

If you could distill James Johnson's modern updating of Eno-inspired ambient music and inject it with the unobtrusive sonic trickery of many modern Clicks + Cuts artists (minus the artistic pretension to favor extreme lack of listenability) you would have Mandala. I find my brain struggling to pay attention to any one aspect of this release--am I more interested in the gaseous ambient sounds in the background, or the stuck-in-your-brain melody that pervades much of the length of the disc? Is the playful piano (think of certain passages of the Johnson & Thompson release Forgotten Places) more interesting to me than the oddly vocal-like chopped up samples? It's an intriguing melange; I found my brain skipping from moment to moment trying to take in the sheer attention to layering and nuance. Indeed, Föy has crafted an addictive perfume that reminds one of many lovers all at once; each equally beguiling, but which do you prefer the best?

The final track, "Meditatie"--could Föy be from Germany?--discards the percussive remnants and bassy pulsations to favor a drifting, ethereal, floating feeling. We are on a mist-shrouded lake, with our feet upon the gunwales of our rowboat. Occasionally the shore quietly presents itself to us, trees and plantlife alternately obscured and unobscured. Are we really so close to land at all? Has this watercraft finally abandoned gravity to float unfettered above the ever-so-slowly turning earth? Have we shorn our commitment to solid form in favor of a more insubstantial existence?

In all, Föy (and Johnson) have created a work that has hit the nail on the head for me. Not many releases by new artists strike such powerful chords in my mind like Mandala has. Somehow, the mixture of newer and more familiar sounds and textures presents just the right amount of alchemical blend to this listener's ears. I especially enjoy the attention to often percussive manipulation of sounds (in a very controlled manner) along with the terrific ambience; not many artists in the neo-traditional ambient genre are able to pull this off with such aplomb. This is an utterly fantastic release, which I can give my highest recommendation without the shadow of a doubt. This will unquestionably be on my 2003 "best of the year" list. Fine work, Föy, whoever you are....

An Atmoworks/Zero Music CDR release.

since July 15, 2003