Tis the season for annual resolutions, such as the beginning of year-long series of creative works. The label SM-LL, based in London, is up to such an endeavor with its monthly Typeface digital releases, which are being posted on Bandcamp, along with a limited-release set of 10″ pressings. Typeface is a project of Martin J Thompson, who “takes inspiration from various practices and ideas around his interest in typography.” That’s according to the brief note that accompanied a 2014 release by Thompson on the SM-LL label, Default 0004. That two-track release took kerning, the adjustment of spaces between letters, as its subject and inspiration. The first of the 2017 Typeface releases has no such stated thematic source or inspiration. What it is is two tracks, the first (title: “01-24”) kinetic and minimal, occasionally shifting, but in a manner that serves to reinforce the sense of permanence of the major theme. The second (“02-24”) is more rubbery and bouncy, with that elastic sound that suggests early IDM, and snare-like accents that are delightfully synthetic. To the extent that the B-side has variations, they are in very slight adjustments of a secondary, quieter accent below the main rhythm. They’re more evident when you move back and forth amid the track to check individual instances than they are recognizable as the track unfolds in glacial realtime. It’s likely that the overall Typeface series will unfold this year as a sequence of slight variations. Something to look forward to.
Originally posted at sm-ll.bandcamp.com. More from SM-LL at sm-ll.com. Thompson/Typeface co-runs SM-LL with his wife, Lucia H Chung, whose work has been featured on Disquiet.com recently. They are based in London.