Bitcrush "In Distance"

Artist: Bitcrush
Album: In Distance
Label: n5MD
Release date: 15 May 2006
Genre: Electronic
Style: Indietronica/Shoegazing/Ambient

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Tracklisting:
01. Post
02. Falling Inward
03. Colder
04. In Distance
05. Song For Three
06. Drop Entitled
07. And Triage
08. Every Ghost Has It's Spectre
09. The 2AM Edit
Total running time: 67' 57"

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[Bitcrush - Open MySpace Standalone Music Player]

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[Bitcrush - Colder - Video Clip]

"Mike Cadoo has nurtured his own sound for many years, once a part of the now-defunct Gridlock duo, and expressing gritty drum'n bass under the Dryft moniker, his most personal work as Bitcrush is a defining sound that has now fully established itself on In Distance. An album that will certainly target a new group of fans to the label, In Distance's thick guitar riffs, scraping ambient infiltrations, processed lyrical whispers and live drums consistently evoke feelings of temptation, imagination and creative reflection. The electrical pulse of Enarc (Component Records) is not entirely stripped; on In Distance the melodies collide and fall against smooth compositional layering and gentle guitar moments brush against gritty beats that build and decompose often in the same track.

Shimmer & Fade, the MP3 release on en:peg, n5MD's digital division, displayed what would soon evolve into In Distance. Crashing vocals and deeply integrated emotions somehow intensify the listeners moods in any direction or path. "Post" opens up with a slow building guitar melody and a calming ambient current until the beats break out mid-way through and the lyrics "I can no longer follow, I can no longer do this anyway" casually repeat with amazing effect. "Falling Inward" comes very close to Ulrich Schnauss' uplifting mesh of percussion, ambience and continual growth within 9-minutes. It's a signature sound that elevates this album into a field that is not electronic at all but rather alive in its feeling and overall mood. The closure to "Falling Inward" is perhaps the most inspirational moment on the album --not as easy to describe with words, as it does with sound, but "Falling Inward" is an emotional journey that doesn't let go. "Colder" is yet another highlight on In Distance, the shortest track of the nine included herein --it glows like no other. The aged beat work and melodic push of this track is as captivating as gliding through a dream sequence that tugs at your heartstrings every mile of the way. The title track, "In Distance," has a more distinct pulse filled with traditional instrumentation and stretched vocals that appear ever so faintly as the chorus line unveils itself in full color. "Song for Three" has a similar feeling --slowly punctuating guitars drift amongst an all-consuming beat that holds your thoughts firmly until its release in the last few minutes. "Drop Entitled" will certainly appeal to indie fans and college radio DJ's --heavy guitars smashing against intense percussion and flowing ambient permutations; it begins to tear apart in its final moments leaving you to gently push repeat on your CD player without hesitation.

On the 11-minute "And Triage," one of the finest moments of In Distance, time means nothing at all in the big picture. Images of times gone by and memories left to grow are nurtured within this track. The first few minutes are slightly intensified --a casual beat patters against your heart until a climactic beginning opens at the center of it all. And just when you thought "And Triage" would slide away into your subconscious, it breaks down into severed elements of itself and begins to gradually take you under its wing three-quarters of the way through. And with a splash of amazing distortion, decay and utmost clarity "And Triage" lifts you into the stratosphere and simply lets go just as quickly. Not only a piece of this huge puzzle that is In Distance, "And Triage" is an entity like no other.

"Every Ghost has its Spectre" and the closing "The 2am Edit" are two gradual pieces of time that are augmented by pure ambient propulsion and sonic passages of human thought. "Every Ghost has its Spectre" speaks subliminally with its softly spoken vocals and casual stream of consciousness while "The 2am Edit" offers a 10-minute voyage of Orb styled ambiences and thought provoking movements in minimalism.

In Distance is Bitcrush's most personal piece of work. Capturing over an hours worth of gravitational elegance wrapped in shredded atmospheres and drenched guitar work, this is perhaps n5MD's most ambitious release and one that will certainly appeal to a larger crowd resting outside of the experimental electronic music sphere. The question remains, however, will this album ever be topped? It's a difficult thought to imagine, so we'll leave that with Bitcrush to decide. Prepare to go the distance and to come back again for yet another trip into an avalanche of audio beauty that is locked in distance." [source]

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