Anders Ilar - Stories of Old
Brian Kolada Monday, September 27, 2010 at 08:26PM 
ANDERS ILAR - STORIES OF OLD
Anders Ilar has been crafting his own dreamy blend of experimental electronics for almost a decade. Just four months after crafting Vidare, a limited edition album of 100 cassettes (which I have not heard), comes this album, Stories of Old, on the fledgling Portland, Oregon (U.S.) based imprint, Yard, on limited edition CD. If Yard – which is also the alias of label head Chris Jones – was looking for an album to enhance its deep and dubby sound philosophy, then Stories of Old does the job, and does it well, as Anders Ilar continues to show his comfort in constructing intelligent, melodic electronic music that sits relaxed in the living room but also ventures occasionally onto the dance floor.
The CD is about an hour long and composed of eight listed tracks along with a hidden track. Of those eight listed, 6 tracks and 40 minutes are devoted to the actual album, with the other two listed tracks being remixes of “Unconditional Surrender” by Adam Johnson and Yard.
Stories of Old dives right into Ilar’s imaginative soundscapes with “Carving Wooden Hearts”, which uses a plodding 110bpm tempo to support otherworldly synth melodies that loop over most of the track in a way that is a bit foreboding, if not also a bit aimless. Next up is “Arcturus”, with its deep, undulating basslines and achingly melodic synth pads… but again, Ilar is creating a theme and letting it ride out for the duration of the track with not much in terms of development.
A sense of real direction comes with the third track, “Cries of the Wilderness”. The drums that earlier had provided a soft glitchy background are sharpened, sped up, and pushed to the front of the mix to compete with swirling, mysterious synth melodies. A sonar *ping* anchors a bouncing, syncopated bassline; fast and intense, this track is one of only a few on the CD with dance floor potential.
Next up is the appropriately-titled “Unfold”, which drops the BPMs to around 100 and over the course of almost 9 minutes, slowly and lazily reveals a gorgeous cloud of sparkling tones, floating delicately over head-nodding, bass-heavy beats. This is definitely the most beautiful track on the album and a great example of how positively enchanting Ilar’s music can become.
As “Unfold” fades away, almost all signs of rhythm disappear with the arrival of “Heliopause”, an ambient piece that places sustained sounds in cavernous, but confined spaces. Monochromatic drones glide into the darkness and slowly return after reflecting off some distant wall, accompanied by a smattering of quiet reverberated clicks.
The album portion of the CD ends with “Unconditional Surrender,” which to me reprises the darkly emotive themes created by “Cries of the Wilderness.” Here again we have a syncopated dance-floor beat, with more desperate synth chords, but what really stands out is the sinister bassline and choppy percussion, which helps gives the album a sense of melancholy finality.
The two remixes are heavily rhythmic re-interpretations, with Adam Johnson bringing an electro-acoustic approach with epic, reverb-laden guitars and noisy, acidy synths. Yard’s remix is a bit more cut-and-paste, with sharp percussion and rhythmic distortions. The final hidden/untitled track is another ambient piece, with all sorts of synth tones sounding off alongside big groans of distortion.
This is a solid album that showcases Anders Ilar’s unique production style, even if it’s nothing particularly new or innovative. This may be hinted at by the retrospective album title, but incidentally there is perhaps a less organic approach to sound design, especially compared to 2008’s free album Twilight Rainfalls; the pianos present in that album are not seen at all in Stories of Old, which instead utilizes more synth-based sounds.
One could criticize the aimless, static nature of many of these tracks, but at least Ilar continues to warm his music with his own cozy, inviting atmospheres. The album should provide something for older fans to chew on, as well as give newer listeners a good taste of Anders Ilar’s meticulous approach to deep, meditative electronic music. It may not reach out and grab you, but if you let it, Stories of Old should wash over you quite nicely.
Brian Kolada
Reader Comments (2)
Very well written. Can't wait to hear this!
My biggest discovery of 2010 has been Anders Ilar even though I've been aware of him for a while via his Apparat / Wooden rmx. Have purchased everything of his and numerous downloads. The free Twilight Rainfalls album is fantastic. Recommended ! His more ethereal, ambient side is just gorgeous. In fact I'd love to see beatless ambient versions of many of his tracks that have a kick drum or snare. Truly a fantastic producer, that sits quite aside from the pack.