More info: https://www.delsinrecords.com/release/7731/vc-118a/waves-of-change

VC-118A - Waves of Change (157DSR)

Release samplers

VC-118A - Spiritual Machines - Delsin Records - 146dsr

vinyl ltd edition: https://vc118a.delsinrecords.ltd/
digital: https://chaindata.bandcamp.com/album/spiritual-machines

a1. Endless
a2. Serge Extract
a3. Soft Spot
b1. Update
b2. Aurora
b3. Lost
c1. System Of Connections
c2. Operator
c3. Spiritual Machines
d1. Industria
d2. Glitch
d3. Voice Message
d4. Machina Overloop

Following 2019’s Inside, VC-118A returns to Delsin to present his fourth album, Spiritual Machines. It marks an exciting shift in focus for Samuel van Dijk as his flagship project nears a decade skirting the deeper ends of techno and electro.

Over the past two and half years, van Dijk forensically reviewed the key aspects of his production process as he dug down in search of the essence of the VC-118A sound. By creating his own complement of sample banks, software racks and devices, van Dijk was able to work with a hybridised analogue-digital system purely of his own making. Less in thrall to the strict rigours of techno and electro standards, Spiritual Machines’ 13 album tracks encompass more fluid shifts into abstract and downtempo, dub-inflected realms, without losing sight of the elements that have made VC-118A so compelling from the beginning.

Burnished machine soul, aqueous atmospherics and immaculate drum programming abound, but in the mellow, enveloping sound world of Spiritual Machines you can hear van Dijk guiding his music into a broader form that sounds at once more assured and more inspired.

Buy @ Delsin Shop

VC-118A - Spiritual Machines (146dsr) preview

Taken from: VC-118A - Waves of Change - Delsin Records - 157dsr

buy vinyl: https://www.delsinrecords.com/release/7731/vc-118a/waves-of-change
buy digital: https://chaindata.bandcamp.com/album/waves-of-change

On his fifth album as VC-118A, Samuel van Dijk (@mohlao) is using his evolved electro practice to explore the notion of change - a universal constant which keeps us barrelling towards unknown futures.

With 2021’s Spiritual Machines, van Dijk presented a new approach which took his established (and celebrated) sound into downtempo and experimental pastures. Now the Dutch artist builds on that premise with a clear-sighted focus on the idea of change, as forces and factors in our present moment accelerate the states of flux within our lives.

Crooked machine rhythms remain the driving force behind VC-118A, but it’s the treatment of the drums and the richly developed layers around them which tell the story. The sources are largely analogue, from a trusted bank of outboard tools ranging from 606s and 101s to ample modern and vintage effects and various modular systems, but these sounds are carefully sequenced and shaped with digital processes to create the nuanced tones and textures which envelop Waves of Change. Crucial to the spatial immersion of the album is the subtle drop in tempo, widening the rhythms and leaving room for the atmospheric sound design to have a greater impact.

The fluid synthesis and sound design which permeates tracks like ‘The Deep’, ‘You’ and ‘Replace Image’ might well be considered a sonic metaphor for the ever-shifting state of the universe, while the reliably crisp rhythmic structures applied to the likes of ‘Heat’, ‘Club’ and ’Elektri’ have a metronomic quality as steadfast as time itself.

It’s the extended immersion of ‘Motherboard’ which offers the most complete summation of the album’s qualities at the midway point, coursing through subtly vivid soundscapes guided by elegant, constantly probing drums. The snatches of voices which emerge through the mix are those of van Dijk’s parents, sampled from a discovered box of tapes from the mid-80s when they were both sound artists. Thematically, the samples also embody the sense of change van Dijk was striving for making this album, capturing a moment in time for his now-separated parents when their lives were very different.

Balancing the disciplines of machine-powered sequencing and hand-shaped sound to render his ideas in sonic form, the continued evolution of VC-118A results in another mesmerising record steeped in craft and loaded with intention.

September 18, 2023

VC-118A - Stream (taken from 'Waves of Change' 157dsr)

Taken from: VC-118A - Waves of Change - Delsin Records - 157dsr

buy vinyl: https://www.delsinrecords.com/release/7731/vc-118a/waves-of-change
buy digital: https://chaindata.bandcamp.com/album/waves-of-change

On his fifth album as VC-118A, Samuel van Dijk (@mohlao) is using his evolved electro practice to explore the notion of change - a universal constant which keeps us barrelling towards unknown futures.

With 2021’s Spiritual Machines, van Dijk presented a new approach which took his established (and celebrated) sound into downtempo and experimental pastures. Now the Dutch artist builds on that premise with a clear-sighted focus on the idea of change, as forces and factors in our present moment accelerate the states of flux within our lives.

Crooked machine rhythms remain the driving force behind VC-118A, but it’s the treatment of the drums and the richly developed layers around them which tell the story. The sources are largely analogue, from a trusted bank of outboard tools ranging from 606s and 101s to ample modern and vintage effects and various modular systems, but these sounds are carefully sequenced and shaped with digital processes to create the nuanced tones and textures which envelop Waves of Change. Crucial to the spatial immersion of the album is the subtle drop in tempo, widening the rhythms and leaving room for the atmospheric sound design to have a greater impact.

The fluid synthesis and sound design which permeates tracks like ‘The Deep’, ‘You’ and ‘Replace Image’ might well be considered a sonic metaphor for the ever-shifting state of the universe, while the reliably crisp rhythmic structures applied to the likes of ‘Heat’, ‘Club’ and ’Elektri’ have a metronomic quality as steadfast as time itself.

It’s the extended immersion of ‘Motherboard’ which offers the most complete summation of the album’s qualities at the midway point, coursing through subtly vivid soundscapes guided by elegant, constantly probing drums. The snatches of voices which emerge through the mix are those of van Dijk’s parents, sampled from a discovered box of tapes from the mid-80s when they were both sound artists. Thematically, the samples also embody the sense of change van Dijk was striving for making this album, capturing a moment in time for his now-separated parents when their lives were very different.

Balancing the disciplines of machine-powered sequencing and hand-shaped sound to render his ideas in sonic form, the continued evolution of VC-118A results in another mesmerising record steeped in craft and loaded with intention.

VC-118A - You (taken from 'Waves of Change' 157dsr)

VC-118A - Waves of Change - Delsin Records - 157dsr

vinyl: https://www.delsinrecords.com/release/7731
digital: https://chaindata.bandcamp.com/album/waves-of-change

a1. Heat
a2. The Deep
a3. Stream
b1. Glub
b2. Motherboard
c1. You
c2. Replace Image
c3. Echo Drop
d1. Elektri
d2. Ufonic

On his fifth album as VC-118A, Samuel van Dijk is using his evolved electro practice to explore the notion of change - a universal constant which keeps us barrelling towards unknown futures.

With 2021’s Spiritual Machines, Van Dijk presented a new approach which took his established (and celebrated) sound into downtempo and experimental pastures. Now the Dutch artist builds on that premise with a clear-sighted focus on the idea of change, as forces and factors in our present moment accelerate the states of flux within our lives.

Crooked machine rhythms remain the driving force behind VC-118A, but it’s the treatment of the drums and the richly developed layers around them which tell the story. The sources are largely analogue, from a trusted bank of outboard tools ranging from 606s and 101s to ample modern and vintage effects and various modular systems, but these sounds are carefully sequenced and shaped with digital processes to create the nuanced tones and textures which envelop Waves of Change. Crucial to the spatial immersion of the album is the subtle drop in tempo, widening the rhythms and leaving room for the atmospheric sound design to have a greater impact.

The fluid synthesis and sound design which permeates tracks like ‘The Deep’, ‘You’ and ‘Replace Image’ might well be considered a sonic metaphor for the ever-shifting state of the universe, while the reliably crisp rhythmic structures applied to the likes of ‘Heat’, ‘Club’ and ’Elektri’ have a metronomic quality as steadfast as time itself.

It’s the extended immersion of ‘Motherboard’ which offers the most complete summation of the album’s qualities at the midway point, coursing through subtly vivid soundscapes guided by elegant, constantly probing drums. The snatches of voices which emerge through the mix are those of Van Dijk’s parents, sampled from a discovered box of tapes from the mid-80s when they were both sound artists. Thematically, the samples also embody the sense of change Van Dijk was striving for making this album, capturing a moment in time for his now-separated parents when their lives were very different.

Balancing the disciplines of machine-powered sequencing and hand-shaped sound to render his ideas in sonic form, the continued evolution of VC-118A results in another mesmerising record steeped in craft and loaded with intention.

VC-118A - Waves Of Change (157DSR)

Taken from VC-118A's Waves of Change LP on Delsin Records, out September 22.

Pre-order: https://chaindata.bandcamp.com/album/waves-of-change
More: www.orbmag.com/music

@delsinrecords
@mohlao

Waves of Change

Listen more

Premiere: VC-118A - The Deep

READ > https://inverted-audio.com/vc-118a-waves-of-change-delsin

Spanning 10-tracks, VC-118A (@mohlao) 'Waves of Change' explores textural abstract electronics, flittering between subdued breaks and hazy atmospheric techno. Our pick from the album is 'Replace Image' - deploying a deep dub bass line alongside squelching aerial electronics and artificial intelligence sonics. One for the 4am crew.