One of my secret dreams has always been to start a record label.  It only made sense—running this website has exposed me to a number of artists toiling away in obscurity in their bedrooms, basements, and garages, and continues to do so to this day.  Alas, a number of other concerns has shelved this notion for the time being.  Running a label takes many resources, most of which I have in far too short a supply to do my idea of what a label should be any amount of justice.

But every so often, I dust off the idea and give it a bit more thought.  Over the years, I’ve worked through several possible scenarios, business plans, and contractual ideas.  But regardless of the details, I’ve always known any label attempt of mine would first and foremost revolve around the Internet.

Nowadays, that’s a bygone conclusion.  Everyone is doing the Web thing these days, and the Internet is obviously the future of musical distribution, whether the RIAA likes it or not.  But back in the day, the idea of running an Internet-based label felt like a bold, rebellious step, the perfect way to get music to the masses while also telling the musical establishment to go screw themselves.

I was reminded of this sense of excitement while going through a couple of discs I received from the French label Autres Directions In Music (ADIM).  Originally begun as a webzine in 2001 (I believe), ADIM’s goal was to move beyond merely writing about music, and eventually start releasing albums of their own, and find ways to support the artists while also making the music as widely available as possible.

Which is where the Web came in.  Rather than try to deal with many of the obstacles of running a label, the ADIM crew seems to have decided to sidestep them altogether.

Rather than undergo the costly process of printing and manufacturing, all of ADIM’s releases are available, free of charge, as downloadable MP3s (though albums can be purchased, on disc, for a small fee if you’re unable to download them).  The albums can be stored in whatever format the listener deems preferable (CD, minidisk, etc.), and all artwork is available for download and printing.  Meanwhile, all musical rights and responsibilities remain with the artists, rather than the label.  Essentially, the label is nothing more than a resource, a conduit and storage house rolled into one.

Now, I’ll admit that I was a mite skeptical when I read that all of ADIM’s music was free.  I thought that perhaps the low price was indicative of the quality.  Thankfully, the exact opposite turned out to be true.  All 4 CDs I received are quite outstanding, and quite diverse in their styles.

The first CD I listened to was Dudley’s Seasonal LP, and a pretty little thing it is indeed.  The LP’s 9 songs are tender little creations, composed of graceful guitar melodies and light hip-hop beats, with exotic little synth bits and pieces strewn about here and there like falling leaves.  My fave track, “Fall Song”, even incorporates a gorgeous orchestral sample amidst its meandering flamenco guitar, something that I couldn’t get out of my head for days after hearing it.  Elsewhere, “Little Whirl” engages in, well, a whirl of metallic, gamelan-like tones, and there’s a forlorn, windswept beauty to tracks like “With Rain”, with its desolate flute and acoustic guitar.

I don’t really know if there’s an official name for this sort of stuff—“bedroomtronica” might be apt, though that seems a bit precocious—but it does remind me of Darla‘s “drum n’ bliss” output during the late 90s.  Indeed, the disc reminds me of the first time I discovered Color Filter or Junior Varsity KM.  It’s too bad the word “pleasant” has taken on such a middling connotation these days, because it sums up this CD quite nicely—and I mean that in every good way imaginable.

The same might also be said of Melodium’s Parthenay EP.  But whereas Dudley weaves acoustic, organic instrumentation in with the electronica, Melodium attempts to take purely electronic arrangements and make them sound organic and natural.  Delicate synth melodies and snippets of conversations dance among glitch and laptop arrangements, which seem to bubble, sneeze, and hiccup.  The music has a rather fluttery, diaphanous quality to it, like butterfly wings caught in a brisk spring breeze, and is often reminiscent of Múm’s whimsical and wondrous music (minus the breathy female vocals).

While the disc overall is a rather pretty affair, it does have a darker, more harrowing side.  “Pluraple” builds off of a sleepy piano melody that hearkens back to Lucid’s peculiar form of ambience, or perhaps it staggered over after somehow escaping from Matt Elliot’s solo album.  The glitch is far sharper and more brittle here, and the synths seem to positively weep and groan.  Also, several artists lend their remixing skills to Melodium’s music; Dudley’s attempt gives “Mmiomm” a slightly more somber air, while Depth Affect lends “Terminus” some glitch-hop flava.

The 4 tracks on Depth Affect’s Mesquin EP were actually culled from a 16-track demo entitled Mesquin Eye, in which the duo of Remy Charrier and David Bideau “[explore] different aspects of electronic hip-hop”.  Be that as it may, I find their music actually veers closer to Boards Of Canada territory, with solid, funky beats propelling cinematic, eerie synth melodies.  However, Depth Affect’s music has a grittier, grainier feel to it, lacking some of the smoothness and polish of Boards Of Canada.  But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

“Dialect” finds the duo cutting up a couple of MC samples and laying the slice n’ dice over pulsing beats and sparse electronic spangles; meanwhile, analog keys possessing the texture of slush gloop away underneath, adding an extra layer of grey.  On the other end of the spectrum, Melodium’s remix of “Mesquin Eye” lightens things up a fair amount, bringing some IDM treatments to Depth Affect the way they funked up Melodium’s music.

At times, the duo’s music sounds a bit too basic and simple—the cut-up MC samples are a nice touch, though perhaps a few more exotic sounds might liven things up even more.  Honestly, it’s hard to really get a grasp on the duo’s music with only 4 songs, and I’m left curious as to where they might go from here.

The 4th disc I got from ADIM was the one true oddball of the group.  While the other 3 discs play with various facets of electronic-based music, Harpagès’ Simples Visions heads out into more obtuse territory, delving deeply into a world of harrowing drones and sound collages.

Originally composed in 2003 to be shown in conjunction with a minimalist film by Arnaud Boulogne, Simples Visions meanders through a wide range of sonic elements over the course of its 28 minutes.  Serene, yet alien drones and hums open the disc, with unnerving little bits of glitch and aural debris nipping away at the song’s periphery.  It immediately puts the listener in a rather surreal environment; perhaps it’s because I’ve been on an Andrei Tarkovksy kick lately, but I picture sagging powerlines and crumbling antennae stretching across Stalker‘s otherworldly landscape.

By the 8 minute mark, sparse guitars have begun creeping in, lending some semblance of structure and motion to the song, but doing so rather reluctantly.  The song eventually loses interest and moves on to other elements, and by the time it winds down, has toyed with piping, sing-song synths, unearthly wails, fragments of glitch-folk, buffeting static, and middle-eastern chants.

It’s amazing how this piece sculpts the listening environment around you.  At one point, I thought I heard a plane pass overhead, only to realize it was the song’s throbbing electronics playing a trick on me.  Along with the Arkitechur disc I reviewed last month, Simples Visions is one of the more intriguing (and unnerving) drone-oriented pieces I’ve heard in quite some time.  Fans of Silber‘s output would do well to check it out.

So far, these are the only things ADIM has released, but they’ve already established a pretty solid track record… at least, as far as I’m concerned.  And there are 3 more releases planned for the coming months, as well as an indefinitely delayed Melodium LP.

Of course, nothing ADIM is doing is at all unique, at least not these days.  Hush Records provides a number of eAlbums for download complete with artwork, and sites like Magnatune allow you to listen to all of their releases for free (though downloading requires a slight fee).  And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.  But even so, I still find it very encouraging all around to see labels utilizing new media to make otherwise obscure music readily available to a worldwide audience.  And it’s doubly encouraging when the music is of such quality and beauty, as is the case with ADIM and their artists.

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• Apr 21, 2004, 12:00am