MOS Recordings is proud to present its next album project, namely a debut solo full length from Chicago’s Ike Release. Ike is an accomplished solo producer as well as being one half of acclaimed duo Innerspace Halflife with Hakim Murphy, and has a long and fruitful relationship with MOS Recordings. For the last five years or so, Ike has been releasing a mind-expanding brand of analogue rich music that continues in his native Chicago’s fine traditions without resting on the usual tired tropes. Labels like MOS, Machining Dreams and his own Episodes have released it to date and now this full length, Noir, comes as a fully formed artistic statement that lays out his sound in all its glory. Says Ike of the LP… “The aim with the album evolved since the time it was initially proposed. I was being pretty diligent about sending [the MOS boss] tracks I was working on, and really all I wanted to do was showcase who I am musically. ‘Noir’ is what came about in the end - the title plays into a theme that runs through much of my work, which Steven helped me identify.” Across ten tracks, Ike unleashes his array of machines (Microkorgs, a machinedrum, MPCs, iPad Apps, cracked soft synths, borrowed Nord Leads, field recordings) and explores deep, textural house, ramshackle percussive grooves, the darkest corners of the galaxy and lots more besides. Opener ‘Lost Cities’ is an underwater rhythm with gloopy synths and stiff drum hits that eases you into the ride. From there, there’s the raw, deep jack of ‘Precipiate’ with its soft acid line, the dishevelled house of ‘Vapor’ and the gluey synth layers and dreamy pads of ‘Solace’. ‘Faded’ is a more subliminal and ambient interlude but then the second half of the album kicks again with the celestial soundscapes of the title track, which mange to sound both heavenly and yet aggressive at the same time. Always managing to coax maximum feeling and atmosphere out of his tools, Noir is a true journey into the deep that will leave you feeling somewhere altogether different.