The Staalplaat label has always been a noise music standout and a real role model. We remember it as a very conceptual Dutch record company, looking for new ways in sound art.
sine~plus+ is a reissue of the self-titled album by sound artist Radboud Mens released on Staalplaat in 2000, with the three additional tracks. Mens is also known as the author of noise machines, which he has been producing since 1988. The stylistics of sineplus+ album is the purest, crystallized glitch, starting and growing from the track Moi into mathematically verified sound sequences with the addition of ambient in the final track. Unlike the works of Andreas Tilliander (Mokira) the album released by Staalplaat has no dub-techno influence and warm keyboards, but everything is extremely “metallic” cold.
Glitch culture fit perfectly in the late 90s and early noughties, but now a miracle has to happen to break the stereotype of listeners that the genre is not a historical artifact, but a living embodiment of sonic reality. Too much of it has been created and the oversaturation effect has cracked audiences. However, Radboud Mens helps a credibility earned over more than a decade and even despite the sad fact of all that has been said before, one thing is clear: it is a vivid document of the era.
Author: Ilya Kudrin
