Ian Boddy – Elemental

5 reviews for Ian Boddy – Elemental

1. 

   Chuck van Zyl / Star’s End – 2022-11-22

   Ian Boddy‘s music consistently sounds fresh; seeming to exist in an eternal now. Continually coming up with new ideas and approaches on each release he is involved in, Boddy is always redefining his relationship with Electronic Music. His innovative contributions to Electronica retain fragments of a time gone by and make for a daring and passionate vision of a present constantly slipping into the past.

   His album Elemental (52’11) possesses more than just the tricks and technology of its time. Its eight songs of innocence and experience cast a wide resonance – one that speaks from the past to the present. This work emits a significant amount of energy by way of swinging drum grooves and throbbing electro-rhythms. Boddy‘s deliberate and dramatic pacing construct these forms gradually

2. 

   Edgar Kogler – 2022-11-22

   Ian Boddy is one of the few artists who have been able to create their own style, fascinating, unmistakable, within electronic avantgarde associated to Space Music, melodic Ambient and to Synth-Pop.

   In this album, he once again displays his skills with an impressive collection of pieces. In the slow ones, surrealist atmospheres, almost Dalinesque, shape the path for ambiguous melodies, flowing from the Dark to the grandiloquent.
   In the fast ones, powerful, complex rhythms, that sustain brilliant architectures are intertwined with melodies that swing between the enigmatic and a romanticism beaded with melancholy.

   Elemental” is the work of a dreamer

3. 

   Phil Derby / Electroambient Space – 2022-11-22

   His first true solo studio album in a while, Elemental is a great fusing of Ian Boddys past and present. The DiN label has often brought out Boddys more exploratory side, delving into experimental ambient, and perhaps even dashes of trip hop and other genres. But Boddys early works were tightly composed melodies with cohesive themes. His experimental and accessible sides have come together here, bringing to fruition a thoroughly satisfying musical listening experience.

   Never Forever” is relaxed and assured

4. 

   Matt Howarth / Sonic Curiosity – 2022-11-22

   This release from 2006 offers 52 minutes of versatile electronic music.
   Joining Boddy on this CD are: Markus Reuter on Warr guitar loop, Stefan Bojczuk on analogue sequencing assist, and Mark Shreeve (from Redshift) on moog and Doepfer analogue bass samples.

   The first track is a delicate tune of shifting textures and twinkling effects swimming in a symphonic fog.
   The next piece captures an imminent tempest with sparkling keyboards and pensive e-perc possessing an engagingly fuzzy quality. The melody is dreamy and contagious.Past the rain comes a track that builds slowly with atmospheric tones punctuated by dripping sounds that evolve into liquid swirlings. Quite an ambient composition.A sharper sonic palette marks the next piece with more demonstrative demeanor as pulsations share the stage with quivering metallic percussives. Tension mounts as the electronics spread with an oozing pace to encompass a bouncy terrain of ricocheting riffs.
   The next track (the longest on the CD at nearly ten minutes length) features hesitant effects that gradually accrete cohesion and slide into a heavenly harmonic seasoned with languid e-perc. Vitality builds here, and although the pace remains sedate, the piece’s potency is glaring by its crescendo.
   A winding path of vibrating beats and astral strings commands the next piece. This fragile composition exhibits a severely serene mien.
   The next track crawls out of that tranquil territory with growling tempos and novel effects that spin and whirl with cybernetic character. A fanciful melody emerges which engages the audience with complex keyboard riffs.
   The last piece employs crystalline synthesizers to counterpoint a nest of shuddering effects. Conventional beats join forces with rhythmic keyboards to achieve a powerful finale.

   While the compositions vary from dynamic to ambient to abstract, a central theme of fundamental drives exists in this tuneage. Boddy‘s excursion through these natural forces demonstrates complex versatility and a dedication to dreamy tunes laced with infectious rhythms.

   2008. Matt Howarth / Sonic Curiosity

5. 

   Archie Patterson – 2022-11-22

   Back in 1980 Ian released his first cassette only album OPTIONS. It was actually a quite interesting EM debut. Today with the release of ELEMENTAL he has reached a creative peak.

   Its 8 tracks employ ambient cross fades to sequel way effortlessly one into another. The subtle melodies, atmospheric passages, powerful sequences and dramatic themes are enhanced by intricate percussion and aural exotica to create a spellbinding listening experience.

   2007. Archie Patterson