Field Lines Cartographer - Portable Reality Generator (2024)

Mark Burford, aka Field Lines Cartographer, is one of the new generation of musicians crafting original sonic worlds in electronic music using primarily modular synths. He has garnered quite a reputation both for his live performances as well as a series of releases on labels such as Castles In Space, Quiet Details and Woodford Halse. He has also appeared on a couple of the Tone Science albums, most notably Volume 8, which was the Tone Science Live event from last year. Thus the time seemed right to invite Mark to create a long form solo release on the DiN imprint.

What is particularly fascinating is that Burford seems to channel the Kosmische Musik vibe of early Tangerine Dream without actually trying to copy their style. His music just seems to end up in a similar sound world but via a completely different path. In his words; “I’ve always loved how music creates new worlds - imaginary environments you can live in. As a listener you become immersed in a new reality for the duration of an album. Fully enveloped by textures, melodies, harmonies and rhythms, new pictures appear in the minds-eye, new dreams … strange & beautiful landscapes sketched in sound. An alternate, portable reality.”

With a running time of nearly 70 minutes this is exactly what FLC achieves on this beautiful album. From the opening gentle undulations of ‘The Sun In Splendour’ the music is both familiar and yet strangely different. The epic, almost 20 minute piece, ‘Collapsable Mantra’ flirts with Berlin School sequencing but adds something new and fresh to the mix. The music has time and space to gently unfold, to grow organically where texture and harmony become one before finally coming to rest on the shimmering shoreline of the final track ‘Interference Patterns’.

As DiN is celebrating its 25th anniversary it’s really satisfying to be able to give such talented artists as Field Lines Cartographer a platform from which to spread the word about their fine music.