Structurally founded on conscious allusions to "pop", "ambient", "electronica",
but imbued with a high degree of critical distance,
Ateleia music destabilizes classic notions of form and process
in pursuit of a unique idea of song. Subtle melodies emerge
snakelike from deep within floods of shimmering multicolored
static; densely layered strata of interference rupture into
moments of tonal clarity, only to be subsumed into the next
span of shifting sound. Incorporating source material from
a host of collaborators, skewed and reconfigured into a framework
of constantly changing and decisive movement, the debut album
from Ateleia
(James Elliott) reveals a developed sense of
composition and pacing across a range of approaches and textures.
All eight of these tracks focus on elements of structure—and
the decay of structure—with both the formed and the
formless vying for space. The resulting sound is dense, angular
and hypnotic, like watching red thread slowly twitch in the
pulse of the tide.
"Elliott's gaseous compositions are austere but not forbidding, strung out but not aimless. Despite the music's bracing astringency and cerebral economy of approach, there's just enough textural warmth and serendipitous, fleeting beauty to sustain an emotional as well as an intellectual response... Quietly breathtaking."
"Touch and placement are everything here, and Elliott's sensitive ear for space and density guides the music steadily through its many mutations without losing track of its expressive core - the sure mark of a new and confident voice in the field of abstract electronics."
"Church-bell sonorities stretch impossibly, buzzing like distant hornets; insistent tones swarm like a Terry Riley mantra. Striking a middle ground between Fennesz and the austere minimalism of Dion Workman and Rosy Parlane, Elliott carves out a niche all his own."
"The wall of romantic noise from time to time becomes clearer giving way to something similar to a beat, but this succulent chunking never turns into a real beat, speeding up several times and finally getting lost in a mash of noise gathering momentum. And though 'Swimming...' bursts with noise and starts squealing here and there, the general picture remains peaceful and resembles the state when one closes one's eyes, having thrown a sudden look directly at the burning sun... Sound technologies at the service of melancholy."
"'On All Fours' begins the disc with lovely bursts of digitized static, fluidly intertwined with droning synthesizers echoing notes of dissolution and careless bliss. Soft rumbles of static and noise soon join in, followed shortly after by high-frequency, urgent squeals of dissonance. Clocking in at just under four minutes, my only complaint is its brevity. Nevertheless, 'On All Fours' proves to be so beautiful, its short span is easily excused. 'To Sell the Ground From Unborn Feet Forever' is a wonderfully crafted piece; high-end guitar drones waver throughout the track, often accompanied by lower clicks and cuts. Sharp, digitized meanderings are sprinkled thoughtfully, adding essential touches of sterility and computerized beauty. It is not to say that Elliott doesn't include some human elements... guitar smudges and what sounds like electric organ scraps occasionally compliment the largely mechanized world created on Swimming Against the Moments... The collective atmosphere is one that renders a certain sort of aural nirvana - even for just a short while."
"...Ateleia seems able to harness the most acrid and discordant sounds of modern electro-industry and somehow paint a picture that's as fragile as it is beautiful."
"It takes a while, but after you put some minutes into listening to Ateleia his music becomes a relentless emotional disturbance, liable to create a complexity made of pleasure and unsteadiness... Ateleia's muezzin call to unsettling aural prayers must be heard - loud - in many world's corners."
