Dalot - Mutogibito

Maria Papadomanolaki (aka Dalot) has been releasing moody ambient music for about seven years now. This, her third full-length, is no different, whether it’s the sound of electricity coursing through the walls, as on the glitchy opener ‘s2s’ or the quieter, swirling ‘Tears’ (at least until the fatal error of inviting a drummer to completely drown out your music takes over), Dalot visits both extremes of the electronic music spectrum. Part cinematic soundtrack (think Giorgio Tuma or Mogwai’s Les Revenants), part hip-hoppin’ electro crunch, the album provides an emotional roller coaster of sounds, although with over half of the eight tracks approaching the eight minute mark, the material could have used some serious editing and might have worked better as an EP (with edited versions of the longer tracks).

Where the album works best for me is on the quieter, more traditional “ambient” tracks like the two ‘Interlude Nocturne’s and the floating ‘Arrival’, where post rock favourites like Stars of The Lid, Windy & Carl, and Hammock seem like obvious sonic influences. With that caveat, the melodic, almost playful ‘Inside Visible’ flows soothingly over the body (although, once again, I’m not sure I agree with her decision to distract us with gonzo-distorto guitar wattage in the background). But then the festive ‘Lift’ does just that – got me in the spirit for Christmas in July (or April), until that old glitchmeister gremlin snuck in to kill my holiday buzz. Still, nice Mono-like vibe and groovy backward-masked guitar ending!

So, overall, Dalot’s melodic sense works in her favour, but I would have liked the album more if she let those melodies breathe instead of drowning them in production gimmicks. Have confidence in what’s carrying the song and don’t feel the need to embellish everything with extraneous noises.