Title: By Immersion
Artist: Mooval
Release Date: 18 March 2014
Genre: Electronic / Glitch
License: CC BY-NC-SA
Label: Yo! Netlabel

Introduction

Moovals immersion is something that really needs to be experienced. The Italian art collective is more than just the pair of producers that have made a wonderful recording here. And, in fact, this release from Yo! Netlabel represents some of the older work by this collective of artists which we should be quite happy to have the opportunity to experience.

Who Is Mooval?

As I said in the introduction: Mooval is an art collective. Mooval consists of four members: Andrea Cliento, Daniel Bellissimo, Marco Zampetti and David Hartono. Andrea and Daniel are the producers of the chill, downtempo, glitchy soundscapes you hear on these recordings (and, in fact all Mooval recordings). David handles live visuals that accompany the performances of Andrea and Daniel. Marco is the video producer, responsible for creating digital imagery for these works.

While I have not seen a live performance by Mooval, if the video versions of these pieces is anything to judge by, it must be as astonishing as listening to the music or watching their movies on YouTube.

Focusing On The Music

Yo! Netlabel has compiled a set of six early works by Mooval for this release. And, it lives up to the title By Immersion. The music on this release is an immersive sound experience that can transform your mood, and settles into your body.

I struggled with what to say about this release because just pointing to the immersive quality of the music seems like it is too obvious of a statement. But, it is the truth. Yes, the sound is lush, melodic, and feels effortless. Like you are suspended in time, totally relaxed, and yet totally aware of the experience that is happening to you.

This is also completely electronic sound, there is no doubt. And yet, it feels almost organic, and spacey in a way that is extremely pleasing. The sounds intertwine in a delicate way, patterns emerge and disappear completely naturally. Everything within the compositions feels natural, like it should have just been there. Like it has always been there, and you just haven’t heard it before.

Bring On The Video

But, when you add the videos to the music, you have a whole new experience. Suddenly the works becomes transformed, it’s no longer about how you relate to the sound. It’s about how you relate the sound to the colors and movement of the videos. There is no dividing line between them. This is completely the opposite of so many other artists where it is obvious that the video production is obvious an after thought to the music production. With this collective, they are all integrated parts.

This review was well-informed by an article on Tsinoshibar Electronic Community: Mooval, the young Italian design that looks electronics Audio and Video!