- Swedish artist Michel Isorinne is likely best known for working alongside Varg as D.Å.R.F.D.H.S., a collaboration that's led to around a dozen transmissions of dark, wintry ambient and sparse, abstract techno over the past few years—including 2015's expansive full-length issued on Field Records. He's kept a lower profile on the solo front, but his own ambient productions are no less intriguing.
Recollections Of Forgotten Dreams, an EP for Field Records, counts as Isorinne's first solo release on vinyl. Like his two tapes last year for the Rimini-based MIXED-UP shop and label, these tracks feel distinctively warm. Found sounds and field recordings are put adrift among mellow melodic progressions and the occasional slow, stripped-back, percussive groove. "Blurred Perceptions Of Substance" is a hopeful, pastoral introduction, with the gradual retreat of a rainstorm opening space for a chorus of bird calls and gentle piano movements. (It seems to be a version of "Varseblivning," from Isorinne's 2014 debut on Varg's Northern Electronics sublabel, Blodörn.) "Reality Is What You Can Get Away With," with analog noise whistling in and out of the mix, strikes a subtle triumph when its meandering synths meet a raspy cymbal midway through.
Isorinne reaches for maximum melancholy with "Whereabouts Unknown," where minor-key melodies find form amid a thick haze of high-tech drones and soft, crackling effects—the extra emphasis on sound design only amplifies the emotional impact. "Without Tears" is overtaken by distorted synths as it moves between hypnotic despondency and a joyous sense of nostalgia, before "Terrestrial Measure"'s panorama of airy, playful tones winds down the EP. All in all, Recollections Of Forgotten Dreams is another enchanting set of introspective ambient from this steadily emerging artist.
TracklistA1 Blurred Perceptions Of Substance
A2 Reality Is What You Can Get Away With
A3 Whereabouts Unknown
B1 Without Tears
B2 Terrestrial Measure