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Anzio Green are Mark Streatfield and Wil Bolton owners of rednetic recordings and boltfish recordings respectively. They generally record under the names Zainetica and Cheju, for a variety of labels including enpeg, camomille, static caravan, kahvi, smallfish, subvariant and u-cover.
The tracks created under the Anzio Green moniker were started while Mark was in New Zealand often travelling between Nelson and Christchurch passing through the very Mediterranean wine growing region of Marlborough. The music evokes the beauty and calmness of this landscape. Mark then decided that the compositions needed something extra and Wil was able to tune in perfectly to the compositions and weave pure and digitally manipulated guitar textures into the mix.
Below is a review of "Autumn Honey" from www.cyclicdefrost.com
Anzio Green dabbles in strange frequencies and imaginative pairings of acoustic instrumentation with electronics over long tracks that ebb and flow through long surges and tidal recessions, in a structured yet oblique way.
Mark Streatfield and Wil Bolton - who also run Rednetic and Boltfish recordings, respectively - splash these imaginary spaces of alien energies and electronic serpentine crackle with streaks of guitar, piano, and organ, investing them with real depths, allusions, echoes, hidden pathways and magick. For the most part, though not always, they eschew obvious rhythms and beats, creating instead an organic sense of timelessness: moments of microrhythm pulse and dissolve, or swell into grand sweeps of melody.
The title track begins with a close approximation to the sound of surf washing up against the shore, before a wave of drones comes in, bringing with them an array of smashed electronic slivers, shards of choral sounds and noise. Flavors of an almost Arabic sort are introduced alongside melodic motifs, lending a grandeur of scope to the portentous tidal bend of the backing instrumentation.
Slightly diminishing the force of such pieces is the simple fact that the electronic fireworks and digital dust sparkle and rotate into aural focus somewhat too easily and quickly, breezing by on a fairly conventional note. The later tracks, such as “Distant Mountains” and “Sun Dried River” are harder to describe, however, and that’s something of a compliment. They remain expansive, immersive pieces, yet they also encourage one to remain at a distance, and in so doing, see how detail, dynamism, and sonic tension play their parts.
Max Schaefer
Heres a review from Smallfish
The combination of Zainetica and Cheju is one that works really rather well. Their blend of electronic and organic influences fit together like strawberries and cream and there's a delicacy here that's very pleasing indeed. I have to say that this is actually one of my favourite works by either of them, purely because the sense of melody and depth is so tangible. There are moments of classic electronica, mixed with a decidedly more minimal and calm ethic and it's the way they put them both together that makes it so good. Add some distinctly lovely instruments in there and you've got a winner. Symbolic Interaction really is a great little label.
Heres a review from Textura
One could be forgiven for expecting that Mark Streatfield (aka Zainetica) and Wil Bolton (aka Cheju) would have served up a heavily beat-based set of electronica in their debut outing under the Anzio Green name in light of the recordings they've issued on their respective Rednetic and Boltfish imprints (as well as on other labels such as static caravan, u-cover, etc.). Autumn Honey is a different animal altogether, however. While the album—more a mini-album at thirty-seven minutes—doesn't wholly eschew beats, it's largely focused on sculpting meditative atmospheres and tranquil landscapes, something immediately evident in song titles that reference never-ending skies and wide-open spaces (e.g., “Marlborough Skies”). The instrumentation Streatfield and Bolton use isn't necessarily unusual—electronics, keyboards, and guitars dominate—but the five multi-tiered masses that result offer their fair share of subtle pleasures. Not surprisingly, the recording's richly-detailed panoramas originated out of travel experiences, specifically time Streatfield spent in New Zealand locales Nelson and Christchurch and the Mediterranean wine-growing region of Marlborough. Where there are rhythms, they're of the downtempo and lulling kind (e.g., “Distant Mountains,” “ Sun Dried River ”) and more centered on anchoring the gentle cross-currents of guitar and electric piano melodies that flow over top. Such becalmed ambiance makes Autumn Honey a recording ideally suited for the early morning or late evening.
Heres another review from Sonomu
A highly polished gem, a brief and very tasteful introduction to a duo consisting of Mark Streatfield and Wil Bolton, both of whom run their own avant-electronica labels.
The music on compact disc is embraced by a glossy gatefold photograph which could just as easily be mistaken for an early eighteenth-century landscape painting. And Autumn Honey..s five tracks resemble nothing more than five small oils to be admired close up, or maybe five pleasant short stories to be read while travelling.
Anzio Green buffs each track to a high sheen and Autumn Honey possesses the kind of production values worthy of vintage Steely Dan. Everything is so crisp and clean to the ear, even the faux vinyl static. They almost seem to be inspired in their aesthetic by the West Coast jazz-rock Steely Dan perfected, not shying away from plummy electric piano chords, plaintive tenor saxophone and melodious bass á la Jaco Pastorius (or its digital correlates).
It makes for a very unique sound.
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