Milieu - Amtrax Plus (2018)

Amtrax was originally a promotional-only EP given away with the first few orders of the Bell'n Dither album, in 2010. It consisted of five cuts from the sessions, presented in alternative, beat-centric versions. Here, almost eight years later, I've returned to the source recordings, tapes and software files for the occasion of reissuing Bell'n Dither, and expanded Amtrax to a robust 15 track album all its own.

The original five mixes of Afterschool Trak, Amtrac, Archeocyathid, Golden Hill and The Light In The Lake appear here, re-sequenced and granted their original mix headings as well. Beyond these, the original version of Afterschool Trak (from the Pinwheel Carousels compilation) appears here, as well as Star Bath, an EP cut from 2005 that has only managed to surface on scarce physical iterations until now. Further rounding out the substance of the album are a number of Bell'n Dither outtakes, many of which feel more loose and "jammy", despite their intricately programmed rhythms and analog melodic textures. For this reason, they were likely omitted from both the Sadhills companion album and Amtrax, only now surfacing to greet curious ears.

Listening back to these tracks today, it becomes more than apparent how much of a love affair with my Korg ER-1 drum machine this album was. The ER-1 appears on every single cut, often in multiple juxtapositions, providing not only rhythm but tonal parts and other textures that are likely to be recognized as skeletal forms within other Bell'n Dither tracks. An interesting tableaux of works that makes for a stimulating excursion alongside Bell'n Dither and Sadhills, and a proper issuing of many of these oft overlooked cuts.