All truly good things take time, something worth bearing in mind when considering that after months of preperation, a fair bit of speculation and more then just a pinch of interest - the very first release on John Xela and Stef Lewandowski "Type" imprint is finally with us. And how comforting to know that hyperbole isnt always impossible to meet - for this debut album from the evidently gifted RJ Valeo is just sublime, building on the exceptional groundwork laid down for his debut EP on Opiate's Hobby Industries imprint and taking things to another level of innovation and warmth. "September" defines the label's mission statement perfectly - a love of warm, delicate electronic music that isn't obsessed with technique or trickery, focusing instead on elements of assembly that meet halfway between the tempered ambience of the likes of the 12k label and the surface-noise bubbling of a myriad acoustic and electronic hybrids, free of the posturing that so often goes hand in hand with this kind of music. Musically, "September" paints a rainbow of fragile sounds with percussive ingenuity and a feel for deep textures - shimmering neon sweeps of melody engulf tricky percussive pops and clicks in a way not a thousand miles removed from the sparse love-story-telling of Dub Tractor or the lullaby minimalism and effervescence of Mr Xela himself. Music that doesn't necessarily stick to conventional means but that somehow manages to make itself accessable to all who approach it - a combination of ingenuity and emotional vulnerability that sets this label off to the kind of start we dreamt of when we launched CCO a good few years back. Absolutely gorgeous.
