CD, Lagunamuch Community, 2010
www.langunamuch.com
Two years in the making, “Main Control Board” is a release about which the Lagunamuch Community is particularly proud – with good reason. Sort of a sequel to “Deep Sea Shipping” (2006), but with thematic aspirations turned toward the void and its mercurial physics of raw energies and gravitational stresses, this compilation is unmixed, a series of twelve stand-alone tracks meticulously selected to compliment each other. The brainchild of Alexander Matrosov (Alexandroid, Speyer, Flexkiks, etc.), who passed away a year ago, it comes with an added level of poignancy with respect to the dedication, effort and quality of both contributors and creators alike.
It goes without saying that “Main Control Board” is dark. It is a seething, pulsing, white noise reflection of an emptiness that defies comprehension, articulated by music at once spacious and microcosmic. But this release isn’t just a collection of killer music – it operates on at least a few levels. First and foremost, it stands as a memorial to the musician who conceived it; secondly, it acts as transmission, projecting its crafted minimalism, radio snippets and wayward electronics into the vacuum that engulfs; further, it celebrates the rewards of patience, in this case earned by a close-knit community of artists and producers who perceive the complex workings of this existence with a mix of apprehension and awe. To all of these things, this is their response.
Among the included tracks the variation of styles is extraordinary, the pacing languid, grooving or palpitating, and the progression impeccable. When played randomly, they maintain every bit of their complimentary power, which only increases possibilities for new revelations. Standouts include Speyer’s “Dust”, with its churning technoid beats, hypnotic build and barely-there ambient backdrop, Riverz End’s “Main Control Board”, brimming with post-industrial organic textures and gut-shaking bass drops, Abstract Avenue’s arcade-esque “Kolkster”, a welcome drum’n’bass-style IDM inclusion, Nightech’s “Grey Strata of Subways, constructed of vast and fuzzy drones, and Alexandroid’s closing “Station MIR”, a serene and extraterrestrial ambient journey of deconstructed trance. Without doubt “Main Control Board” is a successful, towering release that transports listeners outside expectations, even while it envelops them in the cold comfort of truly subversive electronics.
[9/10]
— Dutton Hauhart