Bleep

Back in 2004 Martin Haidinger and Chris Cunningham’s Toytronics imprint issued A Midsummer Nice Dream, the first LP from Christopher Leary’s Ochre project to be released through a label. A set of friendly, quirky glitchtronics, A Midsummer Nice Dream has been afforded cult status in the years since it was released. Now, to mark the album’s fifteenth anniversary, Lapsus Records present a souped-up edition of A Midsummer Nice Dream as part of its ongoing ‘Perennial’ reissues series.

The record itself still stands up as an outstanding piece of early-2000’s IDM. Taking clear influence from the likes of Autechre, Dabrye and Boards Of Canada, the record retains the genre’s inventive spirit while also packing in enough melody and groove to hold the listener’s attention. We find Ochre putting his own spin on everything from two-step garage (‘Drink Malk’) to Braindance (‘REM Sleep Research’) to Eno-esque ambiences (‘Brancaster Coast’). The playfulness and sense of fun that pervades A Midsummer Nice Dream also sets it apart from many of its more sombre counterparts.

As well as allowing Nathanial Reeves to come up with new artwork for A Midsummer Nice Dream, Lapsus also include a selection of bonus tracks here - three on the vinyl edition, six for the digital. All of these tunes date from the same period as the rest of the record, and as such they both fit neatly in with the rest of the tracklist and also act as pleasing extras in their own right.

Following on from new editions of releases by Kettel and Secede, the third instalment of Lapsus’s ‘Perennial’ series is a reissue of Ochre’s A Midsummer Nice Dream.