Lomechanik is a dutch independent experimental music label celebrating their 25th release with the compilation called “Places“: a ‘Name Your Price’ (!) download of 25 tracks (over two hours) especially created for this project by “old familiars as well as newly involved artists, with a certain place and/or memory as a starting point.”
Originating from a collective based in Nijmegen, Holland, even the ‘old familiars’ will probably be unknown names outside Holland (and probably even in the larger part of Holland), but “Places“ proves that the local experimental music scene is alive and well and breathing a fresh air into the world that definitely deserves to be heard elsewhere also.
It’s almost impossible to define the styles here. Sometimes acoustic, sometimes electronic, often both, ambient elements but hardly ever ‘ambient music’. But it’s not your average classic rock, either, as you may have guessed!
For an album that has so many styles coming from so many different backgrounds, the overall coherence is remarkable. The atmosphere is exciting and relaxing at the same time.
This must be due to the single directive: “The only rule we’ve established: No use of beats.”
“The result is a movie-like musical trip over mountains, through hills, past cities and villages, right through the desert and the deep-sea. From serene atmospheres up to extremely ominous, it’s for the adventurous traveller.”
“Places“ is released as a digital-only album, but for those that find it hard to live without something physical to hold on to, Lomechanik has an optional extra: a set of 25 postcards: one black and white postcard for every track (with the link to the audio file printed on them so you can send the appropriate postcard with the audio file to anyone you want.
The pictures printed on the postcards are also embedded in the digital file, so every track has its own ‘cover’.
Original and innovative in music as well as in the form it is released in, this is a fitting anniversary release for a label that defies borders!