Umwelt Cultures of Resistance

Next up on Shipwrec is Umwelt, an accomplished electronic musician who used to release on New York electro label Satamile as well as the likes of Kommando 6, and his own labels New Flesh and Fundata. Hailing from Lyon in France, the artwork with this release comes from fellow Lyon artist Timothee Mathelin. Active in the scene since the nineties, Umwelt has released a three LPs and a high and consistently excellent number of EPs that explore everything from experimental ambient to tough techno via emotive electro. This new EP deals mainly in moody electro that is tinged with nice acid lines, which slowly becomes a trait of this great label. 'Somatogravic Illusion' goes first and is a synapse-twitching bit of bulky electro with tough kicks, groaning synths and starry melodies. 'Subterranean Bases' is a little more stripped back, with sheet metal snares blowing in the wind and background pads adding a sense of drama. 'A Tale Of Disruptive Science' gets all l iquid and frenzied like a prime era Drexciyan cut, with lashings of acid flashing about in the deep chambers of the track, 'Realm Of Chaos' explores slow, dragging ambiance that is pregnant with sense of end of the world doom and finally 'Terraformation' picks up the ante with pixelated melodies, urgent drums and lots of slapping percussion and gurgling acid 303s that really make you want to move. Like everything on Shipwrec, this is authentic electronic music with a very real personality of its own.