If we were watching a documentary about the history of DiN Records we would certainly want to see highlighted the label's founding first principles of 1999, followed by the subsequent innovative collaborations and solo albums founder Ian Boddy has produced and released over this last quarter century, but also something about the Tone Science sub-label series of (thus far) nine anthology volumes promoting the finest emerging and established artists in Electronic Sound, which naturally led to Tone Science Live, the grand night of performances at the Capstone Theatre in Liverpool. And we should also know about the ongoing series of concert albums infamously recorded late at night live on-air during stateside visits to STAR'S END Ambient Radio, as well as the many other stories and incidents both big and small that grew Boddy as a musician and informed him as label boss.
But while we wait for this exposition to be put together, let us admire the 20 track, special edition 25 Years of DiN (141:11) anniversary anthology - featuring previously unpublished new music by names drawn from the register of select artists that helped establish and uphold the reputation of DiN Records.
Starring twenty skilled creators possessing abilities, technology and influences distinctive to each, 25 Years of DiN presents a score of works - uncommon works of experimentation and motion, but then also quite quiet, private and pure. Although each contributor draws on a completely different orientation this collection resonates remarkably with an intriguing imaginative energy. Each composer, well-known individually for their intelligent, atmospheric, synthetic realizations, together now on 25 Years of DiN their pieces build a bigger meaning - one that shows relationships as well as the differences between contemporaries. Just as Boddy's own discography touches different parts of the human spirit, so do the contributions of the interesting assortment of practitioners he has chosen to be part of this treasury of synths and sequencers, melody and meaning.
The names that make up this ten plus ten list of makers will be familiar to the learned STAR'S END listener, and their every singular sonic statement here an offering both proficient and profound: ARC (Ian Boddy & Mark Shreeve), Lyonel Bauchet, Benge (Ben Edwards), Dave Bessell, Bluetech (Evan Bartholomew), Ian Boddy, Chris Carter, d'Voxx (Nino Auricchio & Paul Borg), Field Lines Cartographer (Mark Burford), Nigel Mullaney, Node (Ed Buller, Flood, Dave Bessell & Gary Stout), Parallel Worlds (Bakis Sirros), Polypores (Stephen James Buckley),
Radio Massacre International (Steve Dinsdale, Duncan Goddard & Gary Houghton), Markus Reuter, Robert Rich, Scanner (Robin Rimbaud), Surface 10 (Dean De Benedictis), Erik Wøllo and Bernhard Wöstheinrich make up the cast of characters appearing on 25 Years of DiN - and take the listener on a rapturous journey through a diversity of moods and scenes, thoughts and ideas.
For well over two hours we encounter industry, intelligence and symbolized thought - converted into focused expressions by twenty top talents. It is inventiveness that powers this music - and speaks so exceptionally in the voice of electrical current. But the spark that set this particular group in motion was emitted by Ian Boddy - back when he first asked his colleagues to make something for the ages, something meaningful that would add to the standing DiN Records has maintained over the past two and a half decades, to make something which would inspire listeners and fellow musicians alike.
- Chuck van Zyl/STAR'S END 18 July 2024
