The people at No Type are more than just The Freest of Radicals, they’re extremists as well. Their latest 36 song double cd compilation defies classification. Each time you think you’ve got them nailed they throw you a curve.

The tracks range from transparent micro-sound to V/vm style sonic molestation to toe-tapping minimal house to quirky video-game-tronica and straight ahead IDM. You never know what to expect as each shift can be extremely different or extremely similar. While there are differences from track to track there are also differences between the two CD’s which at first prompt you to re-examine the first one you listened to to see if there was an apparent sequence you missed but there isn’t one. There is an obvious intent in this bumpy ride which really makes it engaging. You’re not looking at a label that has a quota to fill or a manifesto which each artist most follow, the name No Type itself seems to be the manifesto and instruction booklet. Originally and concurrently an MP3 label, No Type provides an outlet for exploration, sometimes the tracks sound like quick sketches and other times they sound carefully orchestrated but always liberal and full of spirit for exploration and invention. The common thread that runs through all tracks is in the rawness of the sounds and the DIY bedroom producer ethic that comes across in the “piss off if you don’t like it” appraoch to structure. No Type definitely gets props for going off and loving it.

No Type is a so called “online label,” they mainly focus on releasing music through their website in the form of free downloadable mp3 files. They help unknown artists to achieve some exposure among adventurous listeners across the globe. By avoiding manufacturing and distribution costs, which make up a substantial part of the total cost of CD’s and Vinyl, a lot of productions that would otherwise never be released get a chance without jeopoardizing the label to go bankrupt. This is particularly positive for music that’s too difficult or too strange to be played on radio or isn’t available at record stores.

After almost 4 years, No Type decided the time was right to finally put out some of their tracks in a tangible form. The outcome called The Freest of Radicals, is a double CD that offers a showcase of what they have achieved up till now, featuring 35 tracks and just as many artists. As the name No Type implies, the genre is of no importance, but I would say they are aiming at the broad spectrum of experimental electronic music.

All tracks reside in their own musical universe, exploring the boundaries and possibilities of it. This leads to odd improvisations, toying around with the weirdest sounds and an extensive variety of abstract compositions. Sometimes it’s spacey drones, acoustic post-rock or dubby microgrooves. Sometimes it’s organic ambient, full of clicks ’n cuts or aesthetic electronica. Sometimes it’s harsh and irritating noises with heavy beats, building up layers of distortion.

But above all, it’s a nice collection of unusual music of all sorts and forms, going from lovely tracks to almost unlistenable experiments. Anyone with an open-minded view on music will definitely discover something they like on this compilation.

Here we have a collection of experimental tunes from a variety of underground artists. Very suggestive and very minimal “art for the ear.” It is a two disc set of some of the most daring drones and audio atmospheres that you are likely to hear. Some of the “songs” go nowhere, but I think that may be in keeping with this “anti music” ethic. The track by Tomas Jirku almost borders on dance, but not quite. Meanwhile the track by Speech.Fake is much of nothing. There is a quirky track by Camp that utilizes fruityloops. Spook by 833-45 is a neatly dark track, and I liked the tracks by Oeuf Korreckt and Books on Tape. Waveporn by Alphacat is also pretty cool. Disc two of this set is more pedestrian, digestible and dancey than disc one.

Overall this is a weird and highly intellectual project (judging by the liner notes) and it is definitely not for everyone. Ultimately, the electronic overtones rule over the acoustic. This is daydream music for the day after a rave.

No Type’s first two CD releases, The Freest of Radicals (an eclectic compilation of 35 international musicians) and Chemin de fer (the very first CD by Montréal sound artist Magali Babin), will be launched at Casa del Popolo (Montréal), Saturday April 27, 2002. A joyous night of live performances by Magali Babin and morceaux_de_machines, the ideal way to get acquainted with No Type’s young electronic artists.

Perhaps it was inevitable that David Turgeon’s mp3 label No Type would make the transition to releasing CDs. After more than 3 years of mp3 publishing (the site was launched late 1998), they present their first compilation 2CD set. The Freest of Radicals presents 36 tracks featuring just as many artists. It features contributions by Le Chien Borgne, themoonstealingproject, Napalm Jazz, V.V., Sluts On Tape, Kalx, n.kra and a host of others, all of whom have been participants on No Type’s online programme at some point or another. With so many contributions, I couldn’t possibly do justice to each one, and the styles certainly vary. From the microsound of Tomas Jirku and Claudia Bonarelli to the abstract digital sculpting of speech.fake, or the post rock sensibilities of Kanovanik and Idmonster, the hyperbeats of Books On Tape, the chaotic distortions of martindx, the IDM-inspired rhythms of Headphone Science… there’s certainly no end to the breadth of styles contained in this release. The challenging and more abstract moments are matched by tracks with more prominent and sometimes even conventional rhythms, beats and even a few melodies thrown if for good measure. Surely, there’s a lot to digest here, almost too much for one release. Almost. Taken as a whole, the compilation sits a little heavily and uneasily with me; with so much to take in, and being thrown in so many different stylistic directions, it lacks some of the focus I would have liked to have seen in such a lengthy compilation. And yet I also have to admit that a number of strong contributions seems to make up for it. Perhaps The Freest of Radicals is better regarded as a “who’s who” of new, not-so-new and/or emerging talents from the No Type roster; a quick thumbnail guide to discovering some new and adventurous music.

DIFFUSION i MéDIA, the Canadian electroacoustic hub (there are a few reviews lurking in back issues around here), had an earlier intersection with a different cultural axis with the final Asphodel sombient set A Storm of Drones which included a disk of empreintes DIGITALes excerpts. Now they have entered into an agreement with No Type to release disks – this compilation begins an arrangement that will see CDs and 12” singles from No Type. And No Type should need no introduction – it is (to my mind) the best web music label and a credit to the vision of David Turgeon. He has released, on a regular basis, MP3 singles (which are really multitrack eps and minialbums, 65+ to date, following earlier excursions into longer albums) that offer an eclectic range of surprising and satisfying musics. The diversity is astonishing from glitch through ambient into beaty techno and various other forms of techno – you may not like it all, but it is a wonderful musical resource and education. And I am expecting the same from this 36 track double album (which when I read that it was coming guessed it would be a ‘best of’ [not in itself a bad thing], but it is all new). The structure of the set reflects the two broad contexts of No Type: of the two disks, Bait contains the glitchy ambient, while Switch has more rhythmic melodic techno. But neither exclusively. Now, a 36 track compilation is a terror to review – too much to try and describe each track, and unfair to pick favourites, I’ll go for the impressionistic response as we move through them.

Running through Bait: droning fuzzy electro with deep slow, moody; more droning, faster and active, building, buzzy, deep noises, talking; light bubbly driving electro, good mood change; minimal tones, crackles that build and fade, sudden eruptions; complex but musical collage – layering crackling with chimes, clockwork sounds, metal tones build, fade; minimal modulated loop – old synth?, jumpy echoed; music trying to get through a crackling bed, very separated cacklefuts swaps with big tones; spacious collage of chimes (some looped to make a rhythm), thumb piano, gong, clattering metal (Harpo Marx!) and scooped pebbles, opens the cd out again; tones and unstable drum machines, builds, a break of crackles and peeps, returns; loungey pulses of electricity rhythms with faint keyboard wisps, gentle; electroacoustic machines click buzz dits, bursty; demented jazz, live drums whistles and swirls, jumpy; a slow trip through blips, scratches and thuds; building slow ambient pulsing like a breathing beast, simple piano later; noisy crackling, harsh, balanced by a smooth beat; the numbers recordings trying to emerge (eventually succeeding) from under static and through a groovy, edged techno; off-key guitar with drums, slow and surprising, piano and strings; guitar processed and looped a la Zammuto; chattering noises alternate with massed whooshes with inner subtleties.

Now into Switch disc (or is it the other way around?): rising tones weave into madness providing a disorienting opening; complex groovy techno; shifting between slow sampley, computer game rhythms, slow rolling tones – nice variation; electroacoustic playing with kitchen and other loops; processed voices, moving between lighter and darker moods, varies a lot; looped dirty D’n’B, horns later; rhythm and movement through crackles distortion noise, hidden voices; another electroacoustic playful piece – walking, accordion, pulses, bells, piano; nice breezy rapid clicks twops perky melody; choppy D’n’B; segues into clicky surface with lovely stuff going on behind; into smooth loungey, slow scrapey squiggles; mysterious and complex forward and backward tones, crackles, grows; rapid clicky cd jumps, slow piano over; tonal and complex rhythms combined; dirty noises and driving techno; edgy crackling with a distant melody to take us out.

A well constructed and nicely balanced set – there are many ‘names’ from the No Type roster, but also other voices adding breadth and interest for those familiar with the label. Generosity in positions means most tracks are short – few get beyond 6 minutes – but with enough time to display their sounds. Generous for the buyer too, as it is single-CD priced: go out and buy it.