In late 2000,
Frans de Waard was in the midst of recording a new album for his other project,
Beequeen. Taking an idea from fellow producer
Asmus Tietchens,
de Waard scratched up the
Beequeen recordings on his hard disk and recorded the results, eventually making these recordings the inaugural release for
Freiband.
Microbes is a highly intimate recording and one of the warmest-sounding to date for the Ritornell imprint. Digital skips and pops instantly bring to mind the works of
Oval, but the live instrumentation and analog recordings give many of the compositions a feel that would almost be at home on a
Jan Jelinek project. Highly listenable and easily accessible, this would be a perfect starting point for anyone looking to investigate further into the world of Ritornell, or experimental electronic music for that matter. ~ Rob Theakston