audiversity.com

10.12.2007

William Fields - "The Ruby-Leif" EP














William Fields - Sunwire (Kikapu 2007)

William Fields - "The Ruby-Leif" EP / Kikapu

I sound like an old man when I say this considering it's only 1.19 in the morning, but I really should've been asleep already. I don't know what I'm doing up except hoping for something to come of this bloody Black Dice review for the past two hours. I've scrapped another version of it and once again am left with nothing. Whether or not Black Dice is even worth the effort is debatable, but for tonight at least the debate is over.

To move beyond the frustration and the inadequacy and the general stuntedness of my writing (and it's sad that blogging is about all these hands are good for anymore when you consider recent output), I decided to take a breather and head out into the vast oceans of the Internet for a little while to see what other, better writers are doing for other, different artists. At some point I stumbled across Wilmington, Delware's William Fields and found my soundtrack for the night. In a week when this website has been stuffed with noise- and rock-related posts (So much for Audiversity, then), Fields has a new album out that sounds more cosmic happening than colossal white noise. It's nice to take a break every now and then.

First, the caveat: You cannot buy this album. At the moment, you won't be able to for the foreseeable future either. This is not part of some grandiose marketing scheme because, in fact, there is no marketing scheme beyond good old fashioned word-of-mouth. Instead, Kikapu lives up to its billing as a net label, meaning everything they have out is licensed under Creative Commons. This is brilliant, because their roster hit the jackpot this past week with releases from both Fields and another prolific electronic artist for the label, Off Land (although the Circle series works a bit differently and is available from Kikapu's shop). Both offer their respective takes on ambient electronic work; while Off Land stuck to the light drones, Fields returns to a jazzy mid-70s space vibe that characterized much of Kikapu's early output.

The handful of songs present on this EP rely on a quiet storm of liquid bass grooves and synths with just a hint of reverb for maximum laid-back pleasure. At times it teeters on the brink of trip-hop (The extended outro that is the title-track, for example), which next to trance is right about the last thing you'd expect to see praised here at Audiversity. But it never distracts, because there just isn't enough time to. At 25 minutes, you only have on average about five minutes for each song, which considering the nature of the music is not so much thankfully economical as it is necessary.

Some songs need time to stretch their legs, or at least let you walk in and feel the aural space out; in these terms, Argentina's Languis and their album The Four Walls is a pretty good reference point. The song provided is better because it's the real thing, so there you have what "Sunwire" is doing here. The same goes for the second track on the album, "Hakea," which begins as the others do with a distant synth line before it's brought into full view with a mixture of dub and ambient elements. Fields puts on a really smooth show, and it's evident not one full listen through that he's done this before.

Fields is a veteran of sorts, in fact. Having been "experimenting with sound" since 1993 as his website puts it, but that's a vague term. It's likely Fields has been tooling around with sounds and how to construct and deconstruct them since he was a kid... But he also seems like a pretty modest guy judging by his website. There are no Flashy displays, no vibrant look-at-me colors, no outrage that you haven't heard about the next big thing. Like his music, Fields gives off the vibe that, even though he's had several releases out (including 2006's full-length Timbre on Gears of Sand), he'd rather be making it than hyping it up. Perhaps this was also behind his decision to release this particular EP on Kikapu.

Whatever the case, Fields has succeeded in releasing a free album that's worth more than that in both quality control and replay value. Though you can't purchase this album, Kikapu recommends you contact these artists and let them know you heard it, let them know what you thought about it all. After a full work week, trying to clear your desk of useless stationery and inessential clutter is the kind of thing that William Fields writes music for. Relax, it's going to be alright, just get some rest and stay safe. On Monday, it will all start again. Somewhere on a lost highway with nothing but headlights to guide them, Black Dice are smiling off. Yes. It will all start again... But for now, The Ruby-Leif has the power to convince me that the night doesn't have to end. That's the only price you pay for this particular illusion.

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