Dimitar Dodovski is quite a new name to the international netaudio scene. I became aware of him when he released his "Internal Affairs EP" on aeronautique last year. Unfortunately, the Berlin based Techno & Ambient label decided to take down all its past releases from its website, and Dimitar's debut doesn't even seems to be available on Archive.org anymore. This is sad, as it would deserve some more attention.

But there are good news for friends and fans, as the excellent and well-established Tropic Netlabel released Dodovski's second EP some days ago, and the Macedonia based musician proves to have evolved immensely since his 2009 mini-album. There's no doubt "Fiction Makes Sense" is one of the most ambitious releases the team around Daniel Tischer has given life to so far. Leaving behind traditional recipes and formulas of conventional dance music, Dimitar Dodovski melts a bunch of different musical influences including Dub, Electro-Funk, Electronica, Glitch, Techno, and IDM into one interesting and richly coloured sonic universe of his own.

The opener "Nitetime" acts like a summary of what to expect from the following four tracks: Extremely complex and sophisticated rhythmic structures form a dense foundation to wafting thick soundscapes, interweaving themselves to a rarely seen sonic completeness. But Dimitar Dodovski even gets a lot more experimental with "If We're Apart", a track which blends Arabic chants, loops and harmonies into a casual frame of deep Dub chords. Another highlight of "Fiction Makes Sense" is the wavy "Larva, Larvae (false)", showcasing the artist's very original "art of stumbling" with its bumpy beats and warm, lush pads, that wash through your speakers like electronic flotsam.

Dodovski created an extremely fine piece of musical architecture, in which you'll find new aspects each time you put it on. A truly original work.

Dimitar Dodovski - Fiction makes Sense | Dimitar Dodovski on MySpace

 

Dominik Paß knows electronic music. He grew up with the emerging scene of the German media capital of Cologne in the early 90s and sporadically publishes both electronic music and phonetic poetry under his real name and various pseudonyms such as Liquid Diffusion, Sapere Aude!, and Serve & Destroy. But he does not only produce music, he also studies the theories behind it and shares his insights in his written publications: on abstract electronic music, on phonetic poetry, and on Break- and Speedcore in his doctoral dissertation.

One of his (way too) rare vital signs in the netaudio scene is the not less than brilliant "Transcendere LP" from 2006, which has been released on the excellent German netlabel Dreiton.net. Although Paß explores known territories like Ambient, Minimal Dub, and Dub Techno with it, he finds uncharted spaces in these genres, opens doors for further investigations and thus paves the ground for thinking artists. It's striking that Paß moves between these different approaches to electronic music, dense rustling soundscapes, lugging beat constructions, and minimalistic harmonies with the most impressive ease, without ever losing the focus on the overall coherent sound of the whole album. And while his debut is a didactic play of precise composition techniques, detailed sounddesign, and the integration of all of these aspects into one harmonic picture, it never bothers its listener with a sterile, an all too systematic or even indoctrinating style, but stays soothing and emotionally stimulating at the same time.

Dominik Paß' "Transcendere LP" sums up the essence of electronic music in its purest form: it perfectly reflects the digital environment of its listener's actualities of life while eluding itself from any secularistic methods of comprehension - and therefore lends itself to the "staging of counter-worlds", as Dreiton itself puts it so very tellingly.

Dominik Paß - Transcendere LP | Dominik Paß' biography on Dreiton.net

The background catalogue of Helge Tømmervåg is not less than impressive. The Kristiansund, Noway, based musician is producing his own music under the moniker of 'Mind over MIDI' since 1995, when he entered the world of electronic art with a set of two EPs on Beatservice Records. Since then he released numerous albums, CDs and MP3 collections on various labels. A good way to explore Tømmervåg's work is his 'Monopoly' collection from 2006, with which he tries to strike a balance of his creative output over the years.

2010 proved to be an extremely interesting year for fans of the shy Norwegian artist. In January he started his own kind of musical almanac of this year, adding a new track every month. The MP3 files can be downloaded for free, and if you prefer a CD, you'll get your chance to lay your hands on a limited edition that'll be distributed on the excellent Silent Season label in 2011.

2010 also saw Tømmervåg's first free EP under a Creative Commons license on the Lithuanian netlabel Sutemos. His 'Thru EP' is the perfect symbiosis of lush Ambient soundscapes and rhythmic citations of Dub Techno structures. But don't expect stomping bass drums here, as Tømmervåg emphasizes the ethereal sweeping and breathing elements of both genres on his latest release, conciliating the expectations for wallowing sound aesthetics of the one fraction with the desire for recognizable, comprehensible structures of the other. And so the 'Thru EP' shapes up as a pleasant voyage through a DNA of evolving and resounding sonic genes, which constantly fall apart, only to be held together and reunited by their own cohesion and adhesion.

And please don't just copy this release to your music folder without exploring its goodies a bit deeper - you'll find some excellent accompanying photography by the artist himself you wouldn't want to miss.

Mind Over MIDI - Thru EP | Mind Over MIDI

Not only Netlabels discovered the power of free releases to promote their artists, there are also more and more established 'conventional' independent labels that put out free music on a more or less regular basis. One of the them is the US label Tympanik Audio, that has been launched in 2007 by Paul Nielsen. The Chicago based artist collective has been praised for its excellent output of Dark Electronica, Hard IDM, Techno and Post-Industrial, and their back catalogue already contains over 50 fine releases. Tympanik describes itself as "a vehicle to promote innovative new artists in the electronic music subculture", and signed worldwide musicians such as Integral, Access To Arasaka, and Ad·ver·sary.

A great way to explore Tympanik Audio's music are their 'Approach Lights' compilations, the latest one dating back to 2009. While most compilations more or less give you a rollercoaster ride of good and bad material and oftentimes simply fail to develop a central theme that keeps the listeners attention alive over the span of a whole album, Tympanik has done a great job selecting only the finest material of some their best releases of that year. 'Approach Lights 2009' holds not less than 15 amazing tracks, which are connected through their cold, mechanical and innovative, yet hugely emotional sound aesthetics as well as their sharp production. The release covers almost all of the label's preferred genres and speaks to almost everyone who has a heart for top-of-the-edge electronic music.

So if you're ready for some new and amazing names, you shouldn't miss this mighty fine release. I am already eagerly awaiting Tympanik's 2010 sampler.

V/A - Approach Lights 2009 | Tympanik Audio on MySpace | Tympanik Audio's Blog | Tympanik Audio on Facebook | Tympanik Audio on Last.fm