In 2009, a new dance imprint located in Uruguay and called International Feel began issuing a string of mysterious, uncredited singles. Soon followed a parade of artists with names like Rocha, Efeel, the Sonic Aesthetic, Bepu N’Gali, Parada 88, Boys From Patagonia, and Young Gentlemen’s Adventure Society, each treading the squishy ground between downtempo and nu-disco, favoring the sorts of sounds that Europeans on holiday would recognize as "Balearic." A few years on, the imprint up and relocated to the island of Ibiza and soon after, most of these works were revealed to be the work of labelhead Mark Barrott, who went with his own name for last year’s breezy Sketches From An Island, which compiled two earlier EPs.
Recently, Barrott announced the release of the third installment of his Sketches From An Island series via the Drip subscription service, explaining the digital fan club thus: "For me, my ‘moments of joy’ come from making music in a studio and then attempting to reach out with that music and communicate with like minded souls to form a connection." The four-song EP, which is now getting a physical release via International Feel, continues along the same trajectory as the previous album, to the point where the library funk of opener "Right 4 Me" brings to mind SFAI’s opener "Baby Come Home", right down to the melody being conveyed via a flute plug-in. Charming as the ditty is, it feels like a retread.
Titlewise, "The Mysterious Island of Dr. Nimm" scans as a sequel to the prior album track "Dr Nimm's Garden of Intrigue & Delight". But while the latter is taken at a leisurely pace, this EP track features darker bass and layers of clattering percussion, bamboo flutes, chimes, and bird calls, reminiscent of jungle foliage. The other two tracks favor the kind of polyrhythmic pulses that bring to mind Music for 18 Musicians as rendered at a luau, gentle as a sea breeze, or on closer "Der Stern, Der Nie Vergeht", Cluster had they lived in Ibiza rather than in rural Germany. While the EP is pleasant enough, it doesn’t stake out much in the way of new terrain.
If anything, it’s a slight step back after Barrott released a two-track "Bush Society" single earlier this spring. Although most of its components are light and buoyant, "Saviours or Savages?" carefully builds tension, its percolating rhythms never quite releasing. The 10-minute "Bush Society" is the most ambitious and successful of Barrott’s tracks to date. Like many of his songs, it begins with ambient bird calls and a distant thunderstorm, then adds rattles and hand percussion. It suggests the brightness of a Brazilian track (think Airto) but the bass synth growls that lurk beneath the percussion give it a sinister edge. Between a vocal sample evocative of the Mbuti Pygmy chants from the Ituri Rainforest and the menacing acid underpinnings, "Bush Society" sounds light and dark at once. Its 10 minutes bring to mind island life itself, in that time feels both suspended and passing far too fast.
