IDM: Zainetica - Summer Rain (2004)

75 / 100

Zainetica’s Summer Rain EP is a well-crafted but understated IDM release which is smooth, glitch-kissed, and pleasant without overindulgence.

After passing through the noisy debut EP by Andrea Minucci, I continued my journey into the world of glitch/IDM with Zainetica’s EP, Summer Rain. Zainetica is the project of London-based artist Mark Streatfield, who has been active for more than 20 years.

According to Discogs, Summer Rain first appeared in 2004 under the netlabel Redose, which itself was under Mark’s own Rednetic Recordings. Meanwhile, the Bandcamp release date is listed as June 15, 2013. Well, that doesn’t really matter. The EP contains three tracks with a total runtime of 16 minutes. From my perspective, I interpreted the eye representation on the album cover—though not clearly a human eye—which somewhat clashes with the title of the opening track, “Beautiful Eyes.”

But yes, don’t judge a book by its cover. Mark emphasizes smooth and pleasing synth melodies in a lo-fi/lounge style, accompanied by light IDM/electronica drum beats. The bass drum feels most present in “Peace Will Come”, which also features dominant clapping hand sounds, giving it a hip-hop-like feel. In addition, glitch effects are more noticeable in this track and the closer, “Summer Rain”, though never to the point of being unpleasant to the ear.

Although I didn’t notice any significant weaknesses in terms of composition or production, the IDM style Zainetica delivers still doesn’t completely satisfy me — it’s just “fine.” None of the tracks are ones I’d add to a personal favorites playlist. However, Summer Rain EP is still suitable and recommended for IDM enthusiasts, especially fans of Aphex Twin and Autechre.

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