Those that keep a close eye on Mike Cadoo's Bitcrush project may have been somewhat concerned with the title of his previous full-length, Epilogue in Waves. That album, by Cadoo's admission, was to be the last of his cathartic Bitcrush entity. Thankfully, writing music is an integral part of Cadoo and has become an important means to understand life. Now, two years later we see the release of Cadoo's fifth album from his Bitcrush project 'Of Embers.' Of Embers is his most intimate album and continues with the very personal cathartic nature we have come to expect. Cadoo has always transitioned between and fused together diverse styles seamlessly and with each album has moved the Bitcrush meme towards his personal needs of expression. Of Embers begins where the Epilogue in Waves' song Pearl left us. Presented are longer movements each that progress and tell their story patiently using the sound that has grown to become the Bitcrush norm. Of Embers is an hour in length, yet boasts only six tracks; three tracks over 10 minutes and two that approach 15 minutes. Of Embers finds Cadoo looking even further back into his experiences and inner struggles than ever before to create what may be the most hopeful album of his musical career. [Learn more about Bitcrush...]

Of Embers tracklisting

	Of Embers
	Dream Unto Fathoms
	Fray The Middle To Meet The Ends
	The Days We Spent Within
	Ascension
	Demons & Dandelions

[sic]magazine

As if running a terrific label isn’t enough, Mike Cadoo’s, Bitcrush goes from strength to strength as a solo musical project. Once at the forefront of IDM (as Gridlock), Cadoo prefers nowadays to infuse his dreamy electronica with some choice indie-rock references. At times it is difficult to shake off the notion that this guy is making music purely for me. Like predictive text on a cell phone, Bitcrush tracks seem to always go in the right direction. The opening, title track for example, begins by swirling prettily enough until the most satisfying bass THRUM I’ve heard in ages announces the arrival of a more beefed up Bitcrush. I’m sold. It’s very reminiscent of the start of Sigur Ros’ Takk. The bass is so deliberate it’s almost wrought. You can hear the frets. (Always loved that, in the right song)

To think that I never even expected any further Bitcrush output. Somehow, on every instinctive, subconscious level, 2009’s Epilogue In Waves cried out, this is an ending, a line in the sand, a footnote, a post script, an epilogue…..this is your lot. It’s over. Get over it. It was also a beautiful piece of work loaded with doubt, indecision and regret. To be honest I thought, like Portal, Cadoo might have retired the Bitcrush name. In show business they say ‘leave the audience wanting more’. We wanted more Bitcrush. But where do you go after an album like ‘Epilogue…’ ? How do you follow a masterpiece? It’s like you’ve played the perfect live set – all your best pieces, in the perfect sequence, with the perfect ending.

Of Embers is the perfect encore.

I guessed/hoped he’d be back but just assumed it’d be some other guise. Somehow I was thinking ‘full band’. In many ways Of Embers sounds a good deal like a full band. I already mentioned the bass. Drumming is particularly impressive. I know Cadoo does marry live instruments to his electronica but the biggest compliment I can pay Of Embers’ is the admission I can’t always tell where.

This is a big record. A powerful, not to be argued with album. Six colossal tracks push the hour mark whilst never outstaying their welcome. Even the gargantuan 15 minute epics (there are two) slip joyously by courtesy of their many different phases and passages. At times Of Embers really rocks. How I ache to thumb through Cadoo’s record collection. I’m reminded variously of Mogwai, (‘Fray the middle to meet the ends’) The Cure (‘Dream unto fathoms’) and even the wonderful Dif Juz (the blazing guitar on ‘Ascension’) The man knows his classics.

Bolder and more optimistic than ever before, this new model Bitcrush has wrong-footed even the best of us. As the record plays out to the gorgeous two minute coda, ‘Demons and dandelions’ I wonder if it isn’t time to retire not the name but instead the familiar Bitcrush motif “have you lost your way?” We may have. But Bitcrush has certainly found his. de:bug

Mit “Pygmalion” beendeten Slowdive 1995 ihre Karriere. Der Sound der Band, der bis heute stellvertretend und als leuchtendes Beispiel für das Shoegazing steht, hatte sich im Laufe der Jahre erheblich verändert. Aus den großen und lauten Gitarrenwänden waren auf dem letzten Album der Band abgeklärte, experimentelle Popsongs geworden, die eher der Spätphase von Talk Talk schmeichelten, als dem BritPop. Bitcrush sucht auf seinem neuen Album einen ähnlichen Weg. Die Einflüsse und Veränderungen in seinem Sound folgen denen von Slowdive auf dem Fuß. Zwar gibt es immer noch die explosiven Momente, das Chaos und die sägende Verzerrung, aber Mike Cadoo wird auch immer introvertierter und zurückgezogener. Eigentlich hatte er das Album gar nicht mehr aufnehmen wollen, schon vor zwei Jahren sollte Schluss sein mit Bitcrush. Gut, dass das nicht passiert ist. “Of Embers” wird nicht nur die Shoegazer der ersten Generation zu einem erleichterten Seufzen bewegen, die Platte macht wieder einmal klar, dass wir ohne dieses klare Bekenntnis nicht leben können. Nichts bewegt so wie die Ruhe. thaddi textura

Four minutes into Of Embers' opening title track, beatific waves of electric guitars and heavy acoustic drums kick in, in a single gesture burying the ambient synthetic streams with which the piece began. Ah, yes, we're in Bitcrush territory again and how good it feels. That we are is, in fact, a tad surprising given that Mike Cadoo's previous Bitcrush opus, Epilogue in Waves, seemingly announced the end of the project, but n5MD's head clearly had a change of heart, as the latest hour-long collection—the fifth in the Bitcrush story—arrives two years later with all of the signature elements intact.

Two of the album's six tracks are in the fifteen-minute range. The rather episodic “Fray the Middle to Meet the Ends” fluctuates between restrained passages of soothing character and explosive sections of high-intensity rapture that Cadoo tears into with conviction. Following a gentle intro of piano, electronics, and strings, “Ascension” sweeps the listener up with a transporting head-nod episode but the track is hardly about unleashing power; if anything, the focus is more on shaping minimal electro-acoustic sounds and field recording elements (sounds of keys and traffic) into material tailor-made to soothe the savage breast. That it's an extremely personal outlet for Cadoo is intimated by the inclusion of vocals on a number of tracks, which thankfully isn't a negative. His singing blends into the music's overall fabric seamlessly and his controlled delivery (no over-the-top histrionics here) in “Dream Unto Fathoms” and elsewhere proves appealing. The fireplace crackle one hears during the ambient passages in “The Days We Spent Within” also alludes to the intimacy Cadoo's aiming at. It's always a bit of a surprise to hear his own music be so guitar-heavy given his label's ‘emotive electronic' credo but, though the ‘live instrumentation' dimension is a key part of the Bitcrush sound, the electronica dimension is a critical component too, as evidenced by the synthetic atmospheres that haunt each setting. headphone commute

It only makes sense that we begin our coverage with an album from the label boss himself, Mike Cadoo, releasing his fifth album under the Bitcrush alias (see his latest as Dryft further in our next installment). Picking up where his 2008 album, Epilogue In Waves, left off, Cadoo employs soaring guitars with reverb drenched synthetic pads, cut-up glitchy IDM clicks and full on acoustic percussion. With only six tracks adding up to less than an hour, the album effortlessly floats between genres, fusing favorite elements of ambient and post-rock. “Of Embers finds Cadoo looking even further back into his experiences and inner struggles than ever before to create what may be the most hopeful album of his musical career.” Fans of emotional electronica will be delighted to glide along the downtempo rhythm with the ghostly background vocals of Cadoo himself. Fourteen minute track, Fray The Middle To Meet The Ends, takes the listener onto a cinematic journey, where textured layers and sonic waves unfold into a new beginning, so very welcome after his last, misleading Epilogue. Overall, Of Embers is a very personal album, bringing the listener closer into the intimate setting of this musician’s world, where the fire slowly crackles and the embers gently glow. Highly recommended for fans of Hammock, Port-Royal and Lights Out Asia.

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