Saul Stokes is a composer, performer and sound magician that uses hand-built synthesizers and modified electronics to create sounds that are vibrant and quirky, playful yet mature, and combines in a way that you are guaranteed not to ever have heard before. Imagine how an impressionistic painter would apply paint to a canvas, because Saul uses those same broad emotional strokes, yet when you look closely they all show full attention to the smallest detail, almost like every single straw in the thick brush has it's own voice that draws you in, but still somehow guides you to a place where you can just gaze over the big picture (very much like those fractal Mandelbrot patterns which you can just zoom in on endlessly…).

The structure may perhaps seem complex, as layer is piled upon layer of rhythms, harmonies and melodies, but there is always an underlying beautiful simplicity. Often a track begins with a quirky little rhythm, then a few drifting harmonies enter the scene, followed by additional blipping rhythms with tight snares, a simple bubbly melody evolves and all parts then work together to create this fascinating sound carpet that tickles your toes as you let your mind wander around in it and explore ever new angles. The different elements sometime slowly drift apart until just the basic rhythm remains, or there is just silence, before they begin to build up once again, and eventually fade into blissful oblivion.

Sleek Nucleus is Saul's eleventh solo album, counting Washed In Mercury (1997) as his first real release, and Saul here introduces us to a slightly different sound world, a bit more percussive than his recent four efforts (Fields (2003), Vast (2006), Villa Galaxia (2008) and Metacollage (2009)). Every single track has a sweet personality, and what may at first sound ragged or rough is actually just warm and sensuous when you let it sink in. This pulsating music is never threatening or jarring or causing discomfort of any kind, but neither is it bland nor ingratiating. For music that is completely electronically generated (no acoustic instruments are used), there is an almost incredible warmth emanating from within each and every track.

Sleek Nucleus floats like a beacon-bouye in an ocean brimming over with mediocre releases in a genre full of "DIY artists" that come and go, so prepare to be swept away! If you are new to Saul Stokes' music, my recommendation would be to start out with Fields or Vast, both timeless masterpieces in the genre, leaning perhaps a bit more towards the ambient space subgenre of electronic music with its dreamlike sonic swells. Either way, do yourself a favour and check out this artist and his music -- and don't thank me later, this is a little secret that I'm more than happy to share with everyone else :-).
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