- Producer Nickolas Sullivan first made waves in Oz with Melbourne band Yolke, a dreamy folk outfit boasting ambitious songwriting and electronic elements. Recently, his talents have turned toward electronic music, churning out deformed bangers as RaymondScottWalker.
Keen followers of Brisbane's underground will remember ScottWalker by his contribution to Good Samaritron's Aussy Bangers compilation earlier this year: a downright violent breakbeat cut laced with detuned sirens and blown-out kicks. Sullivan's love for classic UK electronics is immediately evident, but he distorts this influence beyond recognition.
Raymond's latest release goes by the convoluted Episode: 15-SomethingWasWrong, but shows the most impressive evolution of his style thus far. Opening track Something Was Wrong is a glitchy and textured cyber-dubstep banger whose relentless low-end dissipates into a skin-crawling generative soundscape by song's end. From my understanding Scottwalker primarily uses Renoise and MaxMSP, presenting a dichotomy between the latter's formless algorithmic malfunctions and the former's more substantive gear fuckery.
It's a push-pull approach that's felt strongest on ridiculously named standout WINE//DINE.69 (Mix2.b.). The cut's opening minutes see writhing synths birth an atmospheric jungle tune, pulling serene harmonies into view then obscuring them once more. Brutal mix effects bring the seven minute track to an unstable climax until things fizzle out. It's a roaring combination that expertly controls listener focus from front to back.
Barely reaching half an hour, SomethingWasWrong runs pleasantly light on filler. All six tracks show a different side of Sullivan's artistic capabilities, ranging from the Aphex inspired Ridiculous Freedoms to closer FINAL/DAY and its unchained polyrhythms. Raymond makes little attempt to bury his obvious influences, Autechre included, but with so much diversity on display it rarely detracts from quality.
The biggest issue faced by "modern IDM" artists is a lack of identity, but Scottwalker has character in spades. InMyRoom is yet another distinctive standout, featuring a synthesised chainsaw-cross-didgeridoo amalgam which dominates the track's erratic sub-bass. It's an incredible fusion of multiple styles that's rarely seen in Australian music.
Raymond Scottwalker's recent catalogue is one of the most impressive yet overlooked in Aussie electronic today. Even still, SomethingWasWrong feels like a significant improvement and is likely his finest release yet. Perhaps most impressive is that Sullivan lost most of his hearing four years ago and was forced to relearn music. Regardless, this project isn't one to be missed for fans of strange computer sounds and dance music that isn't afraid to innovate.
- Boddhi Farmer.