ml/i, 2003
On this full-length, Monolake fleshes out his last 12-inch with similar textures and rhythms. These are dark, detailed soundscapes with layers of white noise and reverb. Despite its decent beats per minute, “White__II” seems to move at a glacial pace, with echoes passing like cars in the night. It’s a hypnotic effect. “Tetris” has more swirling sounds, but the same slow crescendos and diminuendos. A burbling bassline melds with the percussion. “Excentric” marks the return of actual synth notes, softly pacing out a catchy rhythm. Beats and the spaces between them are key to Monolake’s oeuvre. Each lengthy track is an experience, an immersive journey into accumulated late nights.
An altogether more abrasive album than Cinemascope this is. I remember someone describing this as being a little like Autechre doing minimal dub techno. Pretty accurate I reckon. Reminiscence is an absolute blinder and there are plenty of other good’uns to shake your stick at, but as far as Monolake goes Cinemascope is a more human, inhabitable place.