Vladislav Delay - Notke (1999)

As it’s hard to say that this or that album is my definite favorite, I can at least say Entain by Vladislav Delay is the one I listened to the most. This album was my first encounter with the glitch ambient scene, vibrant in the late 90’s / early 2000’s. Glitch ambient is so weird, I have a hard time describing it. It’s like having many, many layers of different sounds, from percussion to field recordings or even vocal samples, seemingly being played at random, or at least it feels like it’s random at first. But then, after some time passes, a groove settles; among the randomness emerges some recognizable patterns. Soon you find your head bopping to the rhythm, subtly hiding in there, always here to surprise you.

Notke is in my opinion the most approachable of the album, which is why I shared this one, as I feel it could draw the attention of the unaccustomed ear, build some confidence that randomness can indeed sound good, then move on to listening to the full album. Notke starts with a grainy ambient loop, and a very deep bassline; seemingly randomized. Slowly, as more and more samples come into action, the deepest groove lodges itself comfortably among the chaos. It is hard to really describe what this track sounds like, it’s not really anything in particular that stands out, I wouldn’t be able to recognize its individual parts either, is that a synth? Is that a chord? I think this is the best example of the whole being greater than its parts. It also leaves in shambles the scientific method of understanding systems by breaking them down in parts, as this, like a living organism, only makes sense when assembled, like a living organism. Separate any of it from the rest and you kill it, its sounds are meaningless in isolation. I guess what I am saying is glitch ambient is the behavioral psychology of music, ahah.

Anyway, I digress! Hope you enjoy this album and expect to hear more of Vladislav Delay here, especially under his other moniker Luomo!