Modern Institute - Excellent Swimmer - Expanding - CD

With this release from Modern Institute Expanding is living up to its name in a big way. The label has always provided a certain type of quality and you always know that you're getting high class Electronica, subtly beautiful artwork and a level of production that is enviable. This album, however, sees them moving away from the pure, crunchy, melodic sound that has been their staple and into uncharted territories of sonic discovery.

Modern Institute is mainly the work of Teho Teardo along with Martina Beroni on Cello and a guest appearance from Rothko's Mark Beazley on 'Post.ino' and essentially this is the most organic, live sounding album that Expanding have released. That's not to say there are no electronics because, as you might expect, there are. Everything has been put together with love, care and attention and there's a lovely amount of manipulation and processing going on throughout - in fact just enough to spice things up without suffocating the instrumentation.

Guitars, Rhodes piano, the aforementioned Cello and Beazley's bass all combine to make a warm, almost traditional sounding album that utilises ambient music, Folk, classical and Electronica to convey a serene type of melancholy.

Every track has a beautiful touch that will keep you coming back for more and the sheer strength of the production is enough to keep you satisfied for a long time to come. With a selection of dreamy, downbeat and mid-paced tracks there's not a wasted moment here with tracks such as 'Not A Word Manni' delivering a more acoustic hit whilst elsewhere there are more pure electronic tracks. Combine that with beatless pieces entirely composed of layers of texture and processed tones and you've got an amazingly varied piece of work.

Considering the popularity of labels such as Plop, Hapna and Kranky, this album is perfectly positioned to appeal to fans of all of them and I for one would applaud the label for pushing the boundaries of their sound.

The first release from Expanding for 2006 is a superb piece of work and judging by this it could well be a great year for them and their artists.