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"NOWE:LE"
Vivo is a primarily electronic label based in Poland with six releases to date, including the recommended Black Faction remix album 'Reworked.' With this compilation, they present 49 minutes worth of "narrative sonic stories," ("nowele" is Polish for "short stories") by little known but impressive artists from the US, Poland and Japan. "Uruk," by Maciek Szymczuk sets a rhythmic foundation of pops and gelatinous warbles as a lucid two note ping makes for melody.
"Awar Fedbk," by Shapethrower slowly casts resonant synth waves over gears and light beats. "NonStopFilm," by FilmFilter, the lone Japanese entry, is uniquely bizarre as numerous samples—pop vocals, cartoon-like sound effects, a twinkle bell, rips and tears, metal on metal, etc.—violently mesh in a Nurse With Wound-meets-Mouse on Mars manner. Yume's three tracks are mostly soft, truly ambient environments, populated with chimes and the sonic residue of shifting clutter. Phasmid's "The Heroine Of Goat Bells," and "Mehr Licht," (More Lights) feature playful melodies plunked out on vibraphone-like instruments, the former forgoing the latter's big bass tones and tiny beats for bird song and ritualistic thumps. The cryptically titled "I=B000-B7FF.CRC," and "There's No Way," by Zenial and Palsecam (the latter vs. Szymczuk) both overlay mellow ambiances with more pops and slightly more aggressive electronics. Finally, "Six Sigma (Blackbelt Rmx)," by Alphabet1 mixes moans, mid tempo drum loops, and electric guitar notes, all effected in one way or another. Altogether, this is a very pleasant array of electro-organic sounds. "Now:Le" is one of those compilations that you won't have to skip any tracks and you'll want to repeat quite a few. 
 
