Reviews

u-cdm10 - Ontayso - Blackout
(Mike) - Smallfish - 05.2007
U-Cover main man Koen delivers another episode in the delicious series of limited 3" CDrs. Using police band radio recordings as a narrative, his musical aspects add a certain menacing, yet completely compelling sound to this work. Edgy, electronic tracks glide along with a hint of dub, a hint of industrial and an overall sense of completeness that this prolific artist always manages to capture. Limited quantities available so snap it up if you fancy a slice of the action!

u-cover026 - Ontayso - Selected Work From The 24hour Box Part One
(Mike) - Smallfish - 05.2007
Ontayso's expansive and ambitious 24 Hour CD project has been something of a labour of love. 2 parts a month for 12 months which grow into a superb library of filed recording based pieces of work. However, he was keen not to just simply release straight recordings so they've manipulated and used in a variety of ways. The original sounds vary in style and the tracks that have grown from them are superb. Taking his textbook, resonating Dub Techno style as well as a classic Electronica feel, this CD is a wondeful representation of his skills as a producer. Deep, brooding, melodic and more, the tracks simply work together so well that you'd be hard pushed to think of them as anything other than a completely album in themselves. For those not able to enjoy the full 24 Hours this is an essential rundown of some of the highlights. Part two is due a little later in the year. Quite simply brilliant.

u-cdm01 - Ontayso - Dia de los Muertos
(Mike) - Smallfish - 05.2007
We're huge fans of Ontayso's tireless work on the electronic music scene and each release provides us with a great excuse to sit back and indulge in some quality, atmospheric sounds of the highest order. Here he gives us a track based on a composition for a Belgian contemporary dance troupe that uses deep, drawn-out textures and organic sound sources to lull you into a hypnotic state. Adding to the beatless majesty is a Berlin-esque 4/4 minimal Techno track at the end with a dubby undertone and, once again, an utterly hypnotic feel. Beautiful, striking and of the highest quality. Quite superb.

u-ct003 - Ontayso - Procesamiento Digital Dos
(Mike) - Smallfish - 01.2007
And again... Wow! Ontayso's second release in U-Cover's Transparent series is just as essential as the first and features 4 long, hypnotic tracks that are as deep as it's possible to go. A superb conbination of contemporary minimalism and old-school Berlin / Chain Reaction vibes, this is totally fresh yet fascinatingly vintage. A truly essential piece of work for fans of the genre. Highly recommended.
(Andreas) - Real Tokyo - 07.2006
Just a few months after Ontayso relaunched their reshaped "u-cover" label with the release of "Procesamiento Digital Uno" (see review below), here's already the second part in what seems to become a series. Dos shares with Uno the point that it requires again undivided attention in order not to miss any of the flood of hidden details, but quite in contrast to its predecessor, "Dos" is composed of rather short and eventful sonic paintings that make part two in the series not really a sequel. With each step Ontayso take they're chopping off ballast from their music in order to get deeper, and since they finally seem to be able to do what they always wanted, it will be even more exciting to see where u-cover transparente is heading. Without a doubt, it will be a place at the top of the minimal electronic music scene.

u-cdr032 - Ontayso - Solar Terrestrial Activity
(Alan Lockett) - E/i - 05.2007
Flagship U-Cover act Ontayso (bosses Koen Lybaert and Esther Santoyo), emblematic of the label's output, deliver yet another echoing delight of post-industrial ambience and syn-drone. A more experimental minimalism than the recent basic channelings of Procesamiento Digital Uno and Dos, this Solar Terrestrial Activity is another music from a different system. "Solar 20060821" operates in a loopland redolent of the quieter drone confabulations of Dutch guitar-mangler Machinefabriek, then gives way to "Solar 20060715," space echoes on stun, opening into a post-industrial ambient meets environmental-dub driftscape cum wind-tunnel. "Solar 20060322" shifts dramatically out of the sustain to the staccato, with anharmonic stabs of random synth and thumps and clanks that errantly circle around consistency of tempo without ever finding it. Occasional Scanner-esque radio-transmission voices and edge-teetering echo-returns spread liminal feedback wisps everywhere. "Solar 20060117" gets closer to the Basinskian mist murk of Shortwave Music via the still recurring residue of 90s Chain Reaction. "Solar 20051230" closes with an exploration of percussion and the micro-variations in timbre of its echo-haloes. Intriguing stuff as always from these intrepid ear-canal ethnographers.
(Mike) - Smallfish - 01.2007
U-cover's limited edition CDr label has certainly put a lot of releases out, but they're of such a high quality that you'd be hard pushed to find a dodgy one amongst them. The prolific flagship act of Ontayso (aka U-cover bosses Esther and Koen) have a tendency to deliver beautiful, atmospheric electronic music of the highest calibre. It's no suprise to find that this CD is up there with the best of them. Deep, hypnotic sounds that range from darker ambient tracks to abstract Electronica via a kind of Chain Reaction-esque rhythmic feel. Each track is lovingly created and filled with their own personality. Yes, you guessed it, I like this a lot! Recommended.

u-ct001 - Ontayso - Procesamiento Digital Uno
(Mike) - Smallfish - 01.2007
Wow! And once again Wow! U-cover have totally outdone themselves here with this new Transparent series of CDs. Taking us back to a time when Chain Reaction and Basic Channel were at their peak, this superb CD features a series of metallic, drifting, beautifully Berlin-influenced tracks that wouldn't be out of place on the aformentioned labels. Sculptural reverbs and delays and some serious texture work combine with rhythmic pulses and a beautiful desolation. If you're a fan of minimalist Electronica and Berlin-style sounds you simply must check this out... Stunning!
(Andreas) - Real Tokyo - 04.2006
U-cover, a label reputed for high quality works of deep and dubby electronica, was reborn as "u-cover transparente". Releases are now limited to 500, and come in plain, transparent plastic cases. At least as far as the first transparente effort, a new album by Ontayso, is concerned, this Raster Noton-like minimalization is reflected also in the music. Gone is not only the colourful cover art, but also -- in a positive sense -- much of the saturated coloration that characterized some of the more sirupy u-cover releases. What remains are sonic textures reminiscent of the experimental works of the 1970s German school of electronic music, as they spread and develop slowly over an average of 12+ minutes per track. In Japan, Disk Union just re-released Conrad Schnitzler's complete colour series, and to enjoy "Procesamiento" in a set with "Blau" or "Gold" is indeed particularly interesting. But even without such reference it's an excellent piece of abstract electronic sound.

ucdr021 - Ontayso - The Long River Run 2
(Mike) - Smallfish - 01.2007
Another majestic slice of music from Ontayso and this sits, thematically, alongside their other work with a high degree of excellence. Working their way through moody, haunting washes of sound right through to rhythmic, dubby tracks that will absolutely hypnotise you, you can see the justification for their prodigious output. They deliver every single time and this is a great example of downbeat, strangely melodic Electronica of the highest calibre. Props to artists and label once again!
(Maxwell Oz) - E/i - 03.2006
The Long River Run 2 covers similar territory, but the breathless journey is propelled along by a more pronounced drum programming interface (think a digital Can) and livelier background noises whose keys and synths suggest feuding storms of electric discharge.

ucdr015 - Ontayso - 16102004stage
(Ken Hollings) - The Wire - 07.2006
Two years on from its release, Koen Lybaert returns to Ontayso's debut, reworking the material into a dark study on digital entropy. After a brief prelude of deep clicks and bass tones, this extended track lets itself run down into slow pulses and flatlining tonalities before getting a heartbeat started again, then stopping altogether with a murmured afterthought. Strangely compelling: you find yourself going back to it repeatedly just to see if anything else might be stirring into life.
(Mike) - Smallfish - 01.2007
U-cover's very own musical project Ontayso is certainly a prolific outfit. But the beauty of it is that they seem to have an ace up their sleeve every time they do something. This live recording from 2004 is a classic slice of melodic, incredibly atmospheric ambient music that flows wonderfully over its 52 minute duration. In a similar way to classic '90's ambience they allow sounds and micro-pieces to develop slowly over time, building the tension and sweetness with a range of synthetic machines and what sounds like an array of organic sound sources. At times it bursts into an almost classical moment, at others it drifts along with gradually morphing pads. At all times it's a superb piece of music and for fans of ambience, this is a real treat.
(Paul Llyod) - Igloo Magazine - 01.2007
16102004Stage is a recording of Ontayso live on stage during the Cultuurcentrum Luchtbal in Antwerp on Saturday 16th of October 2004 alongside such names as Tim Koch, Kettel and Ten and Tracer. On this occasion, Ontayso consisted of Esther Santoyo on synths, Steven Lambrechts on guitar, Dave Vanderplas on sax and percussion and Koen Lybaert on guitar and laptop. Over the duration of the single 50 minute plus track Ontayso explore an ambient soundscape incorporating slow drifting synth textures and miniscule digital effects over low rumbling drones and guitar texture. The result is a combination of the intense listening music created by the likes of Biosphere, Hazard, Yellow 6 and Matthew Florianz. Everything about this piece is focused on feeling and mood, taking the listener on a journey that slowly unravels as it progresses, not knowing what lies ahead in its unknown but beautiful landscape. There is no aggression, no abstract digital mayhem, no static soaked beats, just captivating mood and intensity inviting you in to experience it. 16102004Stage often portrays an exotic atmosphere and one that is warm yet somehow anxious about what lies ahead. At the midpoint the performance becomes darker with heavier drones before calming to a more mournful and introspective tone during its second half. As the performance draws to a close the mood lifts and becomes lighter and more euphoric before closing on a short, tormented nightmarish passage. 16102004Stage guides us through an experience portraying optimism, trauma and on to reflection, euphoria and finally torment  all from a single 50 minute musical performance! A wonderful album documenting the full intensity of the Ontayso live experience that tells a story of its own without the need for words. Definitely the best of the U-Cover CDR Limited series reviewed in here.
(Maxwell Oz) - E/i - 03.2006
U-Cover's "house band," Ontayso, has quietly been devising some of the most original and quirky post-rock/electronica hybrids of the aughts, not that anyone's noticed. Well, prick up yer ears cause these folks mean business. 16102004Stage, recorded live in Belgium, is that rare animal, one informed by numerous forefathers but sounding unlike any of them. There's some of Dome's strange sonic experiments, and a whiff of the Euro-atmo artistic influences of the 70s, but mostly it's Ontayso fuckin' around with sound. One solitary piece, it moves from James Plotkin-esque black-hole guitar process to rogue glitch/outer universe space shanty and beyond, taking you headlong into the core of the abyss.