Korean Jade – Exotics
4.10.17 by Mike Haley

korean jade

Cloaked in low-res black & white conceptual imagery, with perhaps a small visual nod to “Pulse Demon” by Merzbow, comes “Exotics.” This seven cut C30ish by Korean Jade acts like a medicated liniment. It’s flexible drones and swerving patterns rub on like a lotion, but with enough coarseness to cause friction and heat when applied. I don’t know who is behind the Korean Jade name, but whether they were going for beauty trapped in crud, or crud trapped in beauty, they got there. Like the artwork, the sounds on “Exotics” also have a low resolution, lending a satisfying matte finish to the overall production. The occasional scaly tail of mutant techno will take a swipe at ya here and there, but it’s bread and butter is synths bending and blinking in a thick fog. Don’t fear! It’s reassuring fog. Not a too scary fog like from that movie The Children I watched when I was far too young.

A white shell with a single black smudge of black paint rounds out the colorless presence of “Exotics,” a more than decent offering of crisp ambiance awash in graininess. Grip one of the 30 copies dubbed from Plush Organics.