Many, if not all of the releases on Ukranian Kvitnu deal with music that is very rhythmic and usually highly minimal; in many of the reviews of their releases Pan Sonic is a reference, and they themselves are also present with a release. This new release is something different. Andre Gastaldello is the man behind Mingle and in the 90s he worked for dance labels in Italy and had a trip hop band called AG Project, while also being a pianist and guitarist in De Curtis band. His instruments aren’t just anything electronic, but also piano and guitar. The eleven pieces on this CD show something else. Surely, there is some kind of rhythm in most of these pieces, but just as easily it is also not present in some pieces. Ambience is a keyword for Mingle. Lots of spacious keyboards and guitar drones are also part and parcel of this; sometimes there is some intelligent dance rhythm, such as in ‘Sevi Lwa’ or slowly fading in, or in a true minimal fashion, such as in ‘Dummies’. There is more to this music than many other releases on Kvitnu. In some way one could say it’s a pity that they diverge into more regular IDM music and distract from the pure minimal beats and sine waves, but it’s good to hear there are more roads to travel in the world of rhythmic music; to expand the Pan Sonic styled minimalist and dress it up with spacious sounds, melancholic pianos and even all out drone piece, sans any rhythm, as in ‘Too Late’. It all makes up for a very musical release, perhaps more musical than many others by this label (depending perhaps on your definition of what musical is), and in all its variation it works really well.
