AKUMU

Akumu

Spider Records (2000)

review by Bill Binkelman

Well, I wish I knew more about the forces behind the epynomously-titled release by Akumu. I think it's mostly the work of one D. Hughes, assisted by J. McMurrich. Well, so much for relying on liner notes, I guess. This is a fascinating and (more often than not) exciting blend of various electronic and (mostly dark) ambient music styles, from drum and bass to breakbeats to dub to more abstract subgenres. The disc is very well-engineered and it caught my attention the first time I played it.

The album opens with "Chrysalis." The song features shimmering synths painting ambient textures and it slowly transforms into a midtempo break-beat number propelled by bubbling synths and kinetic rhythms. A cool reverbed guitar refrain adds even more mystery to a song already dripping in it. Next is "The Black Box" which has slow dub-like rhythms and a ebbing/flowing synth line that's fairly dark. The song evolves subtly as more rhythms emerge from the shadows and a spooky piano refrain plays (this piano refrain reminded me of the one from the title track to the soundtrack for John Carpenter's The Fog). "Chimera" also starts off in a dark ambient vein with minor key synth washes and low rumbling noises. About two minutes in, a neo-Western guitar enters the song and the cut takes on a strange goth texture, like something from the Projekt label. This is some seriously downer music to my ears - very sad, almost tragic (but also compelling at times and even beautiful).

The album continues to fluctuate between dark soundscapes and more frenetic rhythmic pieces. "Drum and Drummer" (love the title) uses that same plaintive guitar sound but adds fast-paced drum and bass beats and spacy synth effects "Telepathy" is drifting warm but dark ambient - very spacy and evocative also with some alien background noises. The song morphs into arrhythmic beats and dub-ish touches as well. Later cuts, even those with insistent rhythms, are drenched in menace and darkness. The music is foreboding and has a cinematic feel to it at times. This spookiness peaks with "Yamato Gun" which cannot be described except to warn you to be careful playing it with the lights out. "Last Embrace" (which is not the last song) has what sounds like a person breathing on a respirator on it underneath a blend of synth washes and minor-key twinkling keyboard notes. There is some spoken word dialogue as well.

All in all, Akumu is a well-done exercise in dark ambient and darkish beat-driven music. While the early songs on the album have some lightness woven into their fabric, by the end of the CD, the trip into the netherworld is in full swing. If you think you'd enjoy some break beats and rhythms mixed in with your electronic shadows, give this one a try. It's surprisingly accessible and will probably raise the hair on the back of your neck at least once or twice.