Since their founding nearly a decade ago, the Milan based imprint, Black Sweat, has left an indelible mark on the landscape of recorded music, issuing a strikingly diverse array of historical and contemporary efforts, spanning numerous fields and artistic disciplines. More than anything, the drive and success of Black Sweat is rooted in a deep passion and knowledge for music, allowing them to throw up numerous surprises and a considerable amount of gold. While filled with plenty of singular, one-off surprises, the label’s catalog is also marked with a deep dedication to the artists they work with, most notable in the cases of Walter Maioli, Ariel Kalma, Maurizio Abate, and J.D. Emmanuel, whose work they’ve returned to again and again. Another such case is David Edren, the visionary Antwerp based electronic composer and musician who alternates between issuing work under his own name and the moniker of DSR Lines. Having already delivered stunning vinyl releases of DSR Lines’ “Spoel” in 2017 and “Venndiagram” in 2019, Black Sweat returns with a beautiful, much needed vinyl reissue of DSR Lines’ 2015 full-length, “III-II”, as well as “Binnenin”, an amazing new LP by Edren. Respectively occupying different expressions of the artist’s interrelated practice - hypnotic, electronic Minimalism and immersive, harmonic and textural ambiences - both, like everything Edren does, are creatively stunning and sonically engrossing masterstrokes that can’t be missed.



DSR Lines "III-II" LP

DSR Lines is the moniker of David Edren, an artist based in Antwerp, who, since coming into view during the late '90s, has issued a brilliant series of releases dedicated to the more striking realms of electronic synthesis - offering a particular focus to the rich, creative possibilities presented by the Arp 2500 and Buchla 200 systems. In addition to a stunning body of work issued under his own name and DSR Lines, Edren has also worked in numerous ensembles - Brahmen Raag, Hare Akedod, Het Interstedelijk Harmoniumverbond, and Spirit & Form - and recorded noteworthy collaborations with Jatinder Singh and Durhailay, H. Takahashi.

Originally issued by Ultra Eczema in 2014, and remaining out of print and highly sought-after for most of the years since, “III-II” is the third in sequence of full-lengths by DSR Lines that began with “Venndiagram” (2013) and “Spoel” (2014). Comprising six live improvisations, it was recorded by Edren during a residency CEM/Worm studios, in Rotterdam, during early 2014, primarily using CEM’s Arp 2500. It’s a joyous, masterstroke of synthesis that blends a rare sense of artistry within lightness and play.

When approaching “III-II”, It’s worth keeping in mind that the Arp 2500 was the synth preferred by Elaine Radigue over the course of her career in electronic music. While Edren and Radigue’s couldn’t be more different, there is a latent warmth and sensitivity shared between both artists and their choice of sound source: Radigue’s Buddhism infused sublime minimalism and Edren’s hypnotic transcendental 'Organic Electronic Music', the larger body of work to which “III-II” belongs.

Comprising six stunning discreet movements across its two sides, “III-II” is a floating world of vaporous percolations, oscillating patterns, subtle drones, and constellations of shimmering frequencies, unfolding in sequences of dreamlike dimensions that fall somewhere between gently arpeggiating minimalism, Kraut / Kosmische, and new age, and the more constrained dimensions of the Berlin School. Completely hypnotic and immersive, flowing seamlessly through its duration of rhythmic pulsations and captivating tones, “III-II” is absolutely incredible meditation through electronic sound, reigniting mystical notions of the future at every turn. Out of print for nearly a decade and hotly pursued on the second hand collector market for nearly all of the time since, Black Sweat’s much needed, beautifully produced vinyl reissue of this masterstroke by DSR Lines can’t possibly be recommended enough. It’s the perfect balm for the changing seasons and an increasingly chaotic world.



David Edren "Binnenin" LP

David Edren has only issued a small number of releases under his own name over the years. While there’s very little explicitly said by the artist that implies a conceptual difference between those works and others released under DSR Lines, there are fairly clear distinctions percolating between the two interconnected bodies of output. Broadly speaking, the albums that Edren reserves for his own name tend to be more varied, experimental, and hold a stronger sway toward atmosphere and ambience. This is certainly the case for “Binnenin”, his most recent full-length issued by Black Sweat. It stands in strong counterpoint to the label’s reissue of DSR Lines’ “III-II”, helping, in this company, to illuminate the scope and breadth of what Edren takes on, the rare sense of skill and artistry that runs through it all.

“Binnenin” falls well within the ambient / new age tinged reaches that rest at the out boundaries of David Edren’s practice. Comprising eight individual pieces that work together like a seamless, conversant tapestry, the album draws its inspiration heavily from the organic world, allowing its artist to “become the narrator of anatomical and cellular symphonies, catharsis of invisible biochemical processes, painting the micro-dimensional flows of the subtle body or imaginary geographies of hidden micro-bodies”, while nodding toward diverse number of musical traditions from across the globe (particularly Chinese and Japanese).

Against flowing and shifting long-tones and gloriously seductive harmonics, rippling patterns and arpeggiations dance hypnotically in the sonic mist. Like his work under DSR Lines, “Binnenin” exists within Edren’s larger body of 'Organic Electronic Music', infusing an uncanny amount of humanity and warmth into the realm of synthesis, hinting toward larger narratives that fall just out of view, and a sense of interconnectedness across the realms of sound, emotion, and the creative act. Shifting between the macro and the micro, “Binnenin” moves beyond the realms of simply being music to be experienced directionally, into a form of total sonic experience, like a quiet rippling jungle of symbiotic sounds.

Warm, enveloping, and engrossingly meditative, “Binnenin” illuminates further dimensions of David Edren’s remarkable practice in experimental, electronic synthesis, captivating the heart and mind at every glacial turn of its unfolding progressions. As understated as it is creatively gripping, we can’t seem to sing the composer’s praises enough. Issued by Black Sweat in a beautiful vinyl edition, it’s absolutely essential for any fan of contemporary electronic sound and ambient music. A ten out of ten.