Birds (In My Mind Anyway)

Doc Sleep co-owns the cassette-friendly experimental label Jacktone, helps run the Room 4 Resistance party in Berlin, and has issued EPs on labels like Dark Entries and Detour. Birds (In My Mind Anyway), released by Copenhagens Tartelet Records, is her debut album, and its a marvelous set of ambient techno pieces which evoke a range of environments and spaces. "Tomorrow Is Beautiful!" (with Glenn Astro) matches the boundless optimism of its title with twinkling melodies and swooping synths which sound like cheerful dolphins. "C&L at the Sea" folds crunchy breaks into lapping waves of synths. "Wiped Memory" is a little less earthy than some of the other tracks, coming close to Incunabula-era Autechre, but "Flooding Meadow" is more on the warmer side of IDM. "Strange Sun" has some of the most intoxicating synths on the album, with hypnotic sequences surrounded by bubbling effects. "Under High Branches" is one of the albums calmest and prettiest songs, with gently lapping hand percussion jazzy drums, and a more enveloping atmospheric swirl near the end. Birds (In My Mind Anyway) is an immersive gem with some truly breathtaking sound design. ~ Paul Simpson