Reference

Description

Delsin continues to celebrate the overlooked brilliance of Simon Walley’s exquisite electronica works as CiM with a deluxe reissue of his 2000 debut album Reference. Spanning 24 beautifully crafted miniatures, this is one of the definitive overviews of Walley’s intimate, introspective electro-techno sound. From the crunch of bit-crushed drums to dreamy, swooning pads, everything in the CiM soundworld feels positively considered and elegant. His music has attracted a devoted following from those immersed in the world of deep techno and electronica. The concise run times of his musical ideas ensures there’s not an inch of plastic wasted on elongated intros or endless repetition. That said, fitting the whole of Reference onto one disc for the original deFocus pressing was something of a squeeze, with some tracks reserved for the CD only. With this newly mastered pressing, all 24 tracks are present across two 12″s, giving Walley’s peerless sound more room to breathe. Delsin and sister label Ann Aimee have a relationship with Walley that reaches back to the late 90s, and they picked the thread of communication up last year with timely reissues of the Service Pack and Series Two EPs. Earlier in 2021, Delsin also released Unselected ProTracker Mods, a collection of previously unreleased archival works from a furtive but undoubtedly prolific artist.