thanks @yams @landt @tteejj and @dan_derks
all your comments are much appreciated
also there is a spot in our original post with the first review (from perfect circuit) and i’ll try to add others if Nimi receives more media coverage
some of my comments below will respond to things they’ve said…but first lemme offer some thoughts about what dan said above
i thought i had a simple answer to this but
there was no over-arching set of rules at the start, nor do i think the balance of styles came from repeatedly passing files between us until we reached an ideal…andrew may have his own thoughts about the process but i think it was far less exciting technically than what many of you might imagine
over the course of the year we spent recording, andrew sent me folders of unreleased songs & improvised sketches with free reign to truncate, reframe, or combine anything i wanted
a significant number of tracks have been presented as-is with those daw edits
the balance probably stems from trust we already had in each other and continue to cultivate (which personally kept my ego in check and allowed me to be receptive to a different approach at times)
i’ll say that andrew has a kind of disarmingly direct style of communication which helped keep things tightly focused…if he thought a track was done and did not need more layers, he’d tell me and our mutual respect made it easier for me to offer similar feedback
i trusted his abilities, his ear and his tools, was sure he trusted me too, and i think we collectively trusted future listeners who would someday hear it all to accept the decisions we made
PERFECT CIRCUIT
What is striking about this whole collection is that you know that most of the sounds are generated electronically or manipulated as such, but none of the tracks comes off as feeling too cold or sterile. There’s an appropriate amount of human error, imperfection, and space that leaves you feeling like you walked into a room, hearing the music affected by the acoustic properties of the space…
a gentle glide or portamento on speed shifts breaks up the looping textures and lets you hear the artists manipulating the sounds, hiding nothing and revealing the human touch. This transparency is what gives Nimi such a firm grasp on the ears and keeps you coming back for more.
It’s really hard to put in words how cool it was to find this description!
They understood our intent: skewing digital tools to reveal comforting warmth, tipping our cards to let you hear (or imagine) the suggested motion of our hands, crafting things in a way that feels quite intimate (like two of us in a room, simply performing some tunes for you)
That stuff was all done deliberately
just not spelled out and agreed upon in advance
