Danny Scrilla - Ancient Musical Box LP [Cassette]

Recording info

Danny Scrilla returns to Cosmic Bridge Records with a full-length project inspired by a desire to experiment outside of club conventions. While Cosmic Bridge has become known for forward-thinking, dubwise dancefloor mutations, label founder Om Unit has long been a fan of ambient and synthesizer music and Ancient Musical Box offers a current take on the format, with 16 tracks of lush electronic compositions and meditations. Fittingly, Ancient Musical Box also marks the label s first cassette release.

Ancient Musical Box was written over the past year as a direct reaction to Danny s frustration with club music and the inevitable cynicism that can sometimes arise from prolonged contact with scenes, styles, and genres. I wanted to create something without any ulterior motives, he explains. As the tracks accumulated, the project took on a personal dimension and therapeutic qualities. Intent on not over-thinking or polishing his ideas, Danny created something that is less album and more a collection of emotions in their rawest form.

Despite not being intended for the dancefloor, the music on Ancient Musical Box still bears clear relations to Danny s catalogue in its minimalist approach and use of melodic motifs. You can hear it in the hazy crescendo of Night Sweats , the wobbly funk of Pangalactic Gargleblaster , and the gentle keys of Talisman . Alongside these are more experimental moments, seemingly fragile in their simplicity but hiding a depth that reveals itself in context: the delicate loops of the title track, the vibrations of Cryopod , the melancholy progressions of Too Little Too Late .

Ancient Musical Box is the sound of a producer remembering that the best ideas are the simplest, in the process pointing to new directions.