The prickly, Autechrian productions of Chris Douglas aka Dalglish find a sympathetic home on PAN with 'Niaiw Ot Vile'. Under myriad guises - Scald Rougish, Seaes, Rook Vallade, among others - Chris has forged a twenty year career as a self-imposed arch-outsider on the fringes of electronic music, finding recognition and respect from intrepid explorers for his persistence and uncompromising approach, all the while remaining an elusive presence. Most notably he's worked with Mad Mike and Drexciya in an unspecified capacity after moving to Detroit as a 17 year old and also appeared at Autechre's pivotal ATP festival in 2003. As with much of his catalogue, his PAN debut feels like a tribute to that influential Æ period circa LP5. It's far more obtuse, refusing the anticipatory gratification of rhythmic loops and more focussed on intricate harmonics and electro-acoustic spatial diffusion over its ten tracks. At its quietest, as with closer 'Oidhche', in the sorrow of 'Viochlm' and the haunted soundscape of 'Sclunt' his melodies remind us of Leyland Kirby.
140g vinyl mastered and cut by Rashad at D&M. Housed in silk-screened PVC sleeve with artwork by Bill Kouligas.