by Jason

Millimetrik is an electronica composer named Pascal Asselin. His electronic compositions are not unlike Ulrich Schnauss, Stars of the Lid, and Yellow6. Asselin has played with Ulrich Schnauss in Germany and artists such as Fax, Yellow6, More, and Alexis Risler contribute to Deeper Transmissions. There are deep oceans of sound and broad, beautiful soundscapes painted with electronic brushes that are both eerie and breathtaking. Also, there is a DVD included with this project that paints minimalist pictures of the sound expressions.

“L’incinnu(e) qui me souriait” begins the album with an eerie feel. The keys float along with slightly melodic piano playing over the top. This leads into “Foule solitaire.” This begins with dissonant, backwards sound and spaced out walls of keys. There is a trip-hop style percussion up in the mix and plays amidst the dancing keys. Eventually, the walls fade and a piano line comes in before all the other keys and percussion return. What I really like about his tracks is that they are never too long for what he is doing. “Contempler l’auto-destruction” begins with moaning keys that breath in the listeners’ ears. Piano plays over the floating keys while a violin type moan enters the mix. A fuzzy, spacey noise ends the disc with an ominous feel.

“Societe aseptisee” begins with backward sounds and a low hum. The keys swirl to a build and sparse, minimalist drums come in with fuzz over them. The feel of this song is huge and spacious. Wide-open fields or the Montana sky come to mind when I hear this piece. “La Multiplication Des Maux” begins with a throbbing, low sound and moves into a sort of scary, ominous keys like out of a horror movie. Clicks and whirls move from ear to ear as they pan back and forth. Drums eventually join the mix. There are minimalist parts in this track that are just beautiful as the drums and some keys drop out to make the minimal parts of the track shine. “Godthab Dans Ma Tete” begins with a major panning sound of keys. This panning under girds a lot of keys that float along on top. This track definitely reminds me of the moods generated by Stars of the Lid. This track is very peaceful, beautiful and lush. A little over five minutes into the track, a very funky beat come in amongst the swirling keys and changes the feel of the track slightly.

“Extrapolare Le Passé” has a trip-hop beat with backwards sounds on a bed of keys. “Eclarcies Utopiques” has a sample of a man calling out something and some very strange, spacey noises mixed with a sort of animal like growl in the left speaker. This feels like an eerie space soundtrack. The darkness of space never felt so freaky. “Quand Les Sapins Dessinent L’horizon” has a completely different feel from previous tracks. There is a new, more complex drumbeat and floating keys. The drumbeat and the bass work on the song really make it stand out. There are some nice details in this track: echoing banjo and some backward cymbal sounds. This song feels like it has more structure and gives the listener a bit of a break from the listlessness. A wind eventually blows and some beautiful acoustic guitar work appears after the percussion drops from the mix. “Presque Isle, ME. En Paradoxes” is a peaceful piece with huge walls of keys that float along like soft clouds rolling over vast landscapes. The album ends with a remix of “Godthab Solitaire” called the Fax Desert Mix. This mix has minimal percussion work and really strips down some of the keys a bit. It is shorter than it’s 8-minute counterpart and it has more playful percussion work in it. There are key voices added that really give a great feel to the throbbing drums.

This is a fantastic disc. If you are into any kind of ambient or electronica type music, this disc is for you for sure. Go to the artist’s site and listen. The tracks stream when you get there. With Yellow6 and other artists supporting this project, you know it must be great. Fantastic beats, walls of sound, broad soundscapes, and minimalist expression make up Deeper Transmissions. A great blend of feeling and flow bring the breathtaking world of Pascal Asselin to the listeners’ ears.