L'usine/Jeff McIlwain

This is the smoothest, most calculated material yet from Lusine's Jeff McIlwain. The title track and "Haze" encapsulate the atmospheric ethos of those calm, quiet moments right before the proverbial storm hits and stretches them into downtempo techno epics that nevertheless would be forever corrupted were they to appear in such an uncouth place as a nasty dance club. No, Push is life-contemplation music. The flip is just as nice if a little less dramatic, with SlapBack taking a quicker step toward minimal German techno and "Excess" effecting a strong melody full of long, wavering tones, carefully syncopated snips and clicks, and as always with Lusine, some deep-riding bass jabs. - URB- Heath Hignight

Lusine Icl is the project of Jeff Mcilwain and Condensed is a collection of work which has appeared on vinyl over the last few years. Since 1999, Mcilwain has been exploring experimental electronic landscapes and, in those few short years, has pushed past a number of boundaries into spaces heretofore unexplored. From the suspended ambient landscape of "In Flight" to the glitched dance beats of "Risa," Mcilwain seeks to create a sound which is answerable only to his whim. While "Chao" clatters with complex beat patterns in a manner expected of an Intelligent Dance Music track, Mcilwain slathers crisp tones over the beat patterns, tones which are echoed again in the more minimal techno follow up, "Rabblerouse." His constructions all have a marked coloration, a silvery tint to the notes (if I can be indulged in a synaesthetic moment) which puts everything in a cool and crisp light. Polished, but still highly mobile and flexible. The programming takes on a veneer of effortlessness while still retaining an elegant complexity which draws in the curious listener. "Dr. Chinme" teeters on the brink of being a down-tempo track, a sultry vocalist caught in the opening phrase of her song, her rising notes looped and folded back upon themselves over a bed of clicks and resonant bass notes. "Shin" plays out like a series of ripples on a pond, tones echoing across a wide lake while fuzzed beats scurry beneath the surface like startled crustaceans. "Vacate" rises out of the noisy grooves of a vinyl record, a soft breath of a song harried by the looping static of the needle against the vinyl surface. My favorite ambient track on the record, "Vacate" is from a split 7-inch on Awkward Silence in 2002 and is a completely self-contained universe of Mcilwain sounds. The static from the needle morphs into a metallic pattern, a digital rendition of chaos which perambulates beneath the ambient soundscape which grows in its own strength to counter the burr and hiss of the beats. "Cascade," the single new track on the record, contains this same ordered flight of glorious tones but the beats are stronger. Caustic spikes poke and pry at the listener, an electrified field of energy which sizzles and snaps. The center of the song drops away, vanishing into a fine mist of digitized particles which gradually build back to their former energized state. "Lullaby" coos in your ear in a sprightly fashion, buoyed by a back-masked beat pattern, and it hovers around your head like a tiny hummingbird, first singing its 'la la la' in one ear and then the other. Condensed covers most of Mcilwain's work as Lusine icl and demonstrates how fully formed he sprang into life. The tracks aren't ordered in any sequence, furthering the idea that Condensed isn't just a gathered set of specimen jars. What you hear across this span of time, across this hour of electronic melodies and ambient journeys, is that Mcilwain is a curious and experimentally-minded fellow. He's not caught by convention; he's not constrained by what he thinks he knows. He finds the electron to be flexible, and Condensed is a great way to introduce yourself to what he's done. Elegant, polished, and captivating to hear. Recommended. - Ear Pollution-Mark Teppo