isan

Robin Saville and Antony Ryan's releases as Isan are characterized by simple rhythms, pop-inflected song structures, and strong, committedly analog melodies. Originally from Reading, England, the duo emerged from the electronica underground in the mid-'90s, at a time when groups like Autechre and Aphex Twin were bringing increasing levels of abstraction and disjunction to electronic post-techno. Dodging that approach, Isan joined artists such as Solvent, B. Fleischmann, Sweden's Pluxus, and Krautrock-electronica fusionists To Rococo Rot in making their music warm, inviting, and accessible. Like many of those artists, Isan (perhaps inadvertently) draws on the '70s and '80s electronic experiments of Hans-joachim Roedelius, Jean-michel Jarre, early new wave, and Another Green World-era Brian Eno. Releases on indie-hybrid labels like Static Caravan, Liquefaction Empire, and Foundary -- among them several limited and hard-to-find 7"s -- earned Isan a crossover audience from the start. The group's profile got a boost in 1999 when they contributed a remix of Seefeel's "When Face Was Face" to the Warp label's tenth anniversary release Remixes. Releases on Morr Music followed, including 2001's Lucky Cat and 2004's Meet Next Life. ~ Sean Cooper, All Music Guide