Rainbo Video

The debut album for local musician and artist, Rainbo Video (aka Arturo Evening) is beautiful, haunting, and stunning in scope. Over just five tracks, he manages to loop his way through modern electronic music. This is minimal trance or ambient music, but with so many layers and textures you will find yourself lost and in love. The epic opening to the album, "Ultraviolet" is the best of Steve Reich mixed with Aphex Twin. The album as a whole is chilling, but that could be because of the album's core concept. Shadow Relics centers around an expedition to Antarctica and the strange artifacts uncovered there. - The Deli Magazine

I’ve often found that the some of the best electronic music artists are those that are well-versed in a variety of styles. Take, for instances, Luke Vibert and Aphex Twin, two artists who are widely considered to be amongst the forefathers of modern electronic music. Vibert has over ten different monikers, all of which act as a channel for different styles. His Kerrier District project is strictly focused on disco, Amen Andrews and Plug on drum n’ bass, and Wagon Christ on instrumental/sample-based hip-hop, while releases under his own name are often a mix of these styles or sometimes strictly focused on one (take for instance YosepH and Lover’s Acid, which were entirely rooted in acid house / techno). Meanwhile, Aphex Twin has released his fair share of differing works. Selected Ambient Works 85-92 and Selected Ambient Works Vol. II were based in compelling ambient, his Analord series in acid techno, “Windowlicker” in glitch-hop and his remix of Phillip Glass’s remix of David Bowies “Heroes” in abstract minimalism.

So why the long, seemingly unrelated intro to Rainbo Video’s Shadow Relics? Well, I’ve been tracking Rainbo Video, a rising electronic musician based in Chicago, for nearly eight years now, and I’m impressed by how he’s been able to competently release works under a wide range of styles. One of his earliest works, “Colors”, is rooted in “hyper-electronic”, filled with high-pitched vocals set to a high BPM and stuttering beats, akin to Kid 606. Later works, such as “Tapes for Live Performance”, are more synthy in nature, and utilize repetitive sonic elements effectively, much like the Field.

“Tapes for Live Performance,” among other works, hinted at Rainbo Video’s current direction. Shadow Relics is a solid workout in true ambient and minimalism. Opener “Ultraviolet” is a beautiful and epic 10-minute plus piece, reminiscent of Steve Reich’s Electric Counterpoint. Multiple guitar lines fight and harmonize with each other, and eventually are overtaken by warm string pads. The album’s closer, “Hidden in the Ice”, is starkly different from the album’s four other tracks in that is predominantly rooted in oscillating noise as opposed to acoustic guitar, though it is equally as engaging.

I’m impressed at the level of maturity Rainbo Video has exhibited with Shadow Relics. Still in his 20s, he could have continued in the vein of electronic pop like some of his earlier works and his peers, though he took the road less traveled and released a piece of engaging, electronic-based minimalism. Here are the relevant links:

Shadow Relics (In true Radiohead-style, Rainbo Video is asking to “name your price” for the digital purchase above $5:))
Rainbo Video’s Official Website
Rainbo Video’s Soundcloud (Where you can listen to tracks from Shadow Relics amongst others) - Audratic

[excerpt]

"Ultraviolet" takes that disconcertingly (and contradictory) modernist baroque that Steve Reich popularised and harnesses it to a almost pastoral melody that suggests not golden fields and ancient trees, but nebula and gas giants and impossible distances and the aeons old gravitational dance of galaxies. It is the sound of giddy excitement at fantastic detail. An orgy of data driving the rapidity of the notes; a clear drone binding in place the looping and falling of the rest of the track.

It is taken from the extremely beautiful album Shadow Relics which can be purchased in all it’s DIY glory at Arturo Evening’s webpage here. - 20 Jazz Funk Greats

Rainbo Video is aptly named. The gorgeous colors emanating from these five compositions shocked me. Everything is meticulous, melodic, infinitely well-organized and lovely. Comparisons to Steve Reich would be justified, particularly in the first sweeping piece “Ultraviolet”.

“Ultraviolet” begins with guitars looped one on top of the other. Other guitars play over these as an organ slowly enters into the piece. The organ floats by at a leisurely pace, indifferent to the frantic pace of the guitars. Eventually the guitars and other sounds are slowly phased out, leaving the organ time to float on by its lonesome, repeating the movement of the guitars.

Guitars are all over this album. Mixed with the organs and a few other effects, they manage to move in a whole different manner. They have become something bigger, something larger while possessing the humanity that makes acoustic guitars so warm and intimate.

“Undertow” happens to be the darkest track. For me this is the middle ‘wistful’ track. It’s achingly beautiful, watching those guitars flower. You can’t find a single variation; they come together as a bleak whole.

For the finale “Hidden in the Ice” the guitars are abandoned. Instead we’re left alone with a digital drift of sound. Considering the amount of energy expended on the previous tracks, this is an appropriate send off. Though the digital versus the more organic feel of the rest of the tracks seems a bit strange, the sound is reminiscent of the earlier organ. It gives the whole album a sense of connectedness.

I ended up playing this album over and over again. Parts of it are just so active you have to go back to discover new elements or pieces you’d missed the first time around. Albums like “Shadow Relics” are rare: ones that offer new insights with each additional listen. - Beach Sloth

Electro-dance-pop creator Rainbo Video can be heard tomorrow night on DJ C’s inventive Joystyxx program. The program will air on WLUW, 88.7 at 8:00pm...His tunes are light dance tracks filled with creative twists and turns. - The Deli Chicago

(Estonian music blog - the following is their own English translation)

UFF! I’m speechless...Combining entertaining beats with funky fresh (oldschool) stuff is a part almost every second-class dj is trying to perform. And is failing in!

Chicago kid Rainbo Video pops out of these ocean full of pabulum, proving his skills in sharing 5 absolutely compelling babies with the world, pitching the duet of pumping soft beats and known hooks to a new top-level in a speed even my best friend on ADS is flabbergasted. These tunes are such a stroke to your hearing, you’ll wish Rainbo Video to become your stepfather, or stepbro....Train your index finger. Every single track is worth to be loaded! - The Fast Life

Rainbo Video seems to be what the emerging Art House scene in Chicago is all about. Rainbo Video is a multimedia experience. His mixes aren’t going to sound the same every show. Rainbo Video cares more about how pleasant something sounds and how danceable the beat is than about where the sounds came from, or whether it’s a funny/clever mash up. Rainbo Video says, “When I make music, I’m working from an aural perspective, not a cultural/social/contextual one.” That’s pretty noble to hear in the BLOG HOUSE era.

Anyways, all I know is that his beats are hot, he has an original image, and he’s way better than most of the DJ crap that so many people automatically “appreciate.” - Hipster Runoff

Blog favorite Rainbo Video produces video and music. There's a unified aesthetic (of editing and pacing) across these different media that's very fresh. I like this song [TT] a lot for when I want a jolt of pop to the face, and I look forward to seeing a lot more. - Hey! Student

Run, don't walk, over to Video Pop blog, and grab the finest music that has come out of Chicago in a long, long time.

Rainbo Video blew the lid off my dome with what the man calls "automated process music" where, in his words, "whole words are broken down into their component syllables and become either sharp staccato stabs of pop, or soft, flowing pads of pop."

Also, in a breath of fresh air for my earnest self, none of the samples were used ironically! Eat that scenesters. - Lindsay Loves Me

I hope some more people start to pay attention to what Rainbo Video is up to. RV used to do high BPM breakcore stuff, but on the latest tracks that he's released he almost sounds like The Field at times, moving into a more ambient sound. Still, I am guessing that his main motivation for making music is to make people move. "To Rule the Floor" should do just that, it's a really uptempo track with a very appropriate Lil Jon sample.

Please check this out, it's brand new music that needs to be heard dammit. - Hey! Student