Chapter1: The construction of an identity - Abdulla Rashim
When you listen to Abdulla Rashim’s tracks you are invited to go through a long and complex sonic path which leads you toward the edge of hypnosis.
“Rashim's music has always been characterized by a relentless focus on percussion, often with dense, rolling drum patterns and distinctive, finely-carved hi-hats and other hissing bits of sound that slice into the treble.”
Resident Advisor - Abdulla Rashim - Unanimity on Northern Electronic
This is also called drone music which characterizes some dark techno tracks when the artist is crafting a minimalist record using drones (bourdons) to wrap ambient pads into something absorbing. This sonic signature defines the sound of Anthony Linell.
Back in 2011 when Anthony released his first EP under his eponymous record label - Abdulla Rashim Recordings. The aim was to create a platform which enables him to share and present any kind of music exploration without being harnessed by a label obsession to bind the artist’s creativity to its identity. The label has been an opportunity to build his signature through a wide exploration of sonic experimentations crafted around the same recipe - creating dense hypnotic soundscapes.
The publication of his first LP Unanimity paved the way to a new era for Anthony. The LP represents a kind of manifesto which summarizes his past explorations into a coherent piece of techno music. Unanimity closed the chapter of Abdulla Rashim’s quest of musical identity and opened a new one centred around the development of his discovered universe through new artists and side projects.
Chapter 2: Northern Electronics - The realm of the Scandinavian Swords
In parallel to the development of Abdulla Rashim some of Anthony’s friends were also working on the same quest of musical exploration. Slowly the process of sharing tracks in order to get reviews from each other have led the group to nurture their common identity.
As Abdulla Rashim Recordings was not the right platform to publish the work of others Anthony Linell and Jonas Rönnberg, a.k.a. Varg, have decided to create a new label called Northern Electronics. Soon the first releases were coming from their group of friends with work from Korridor and Acronym.
The refined quality of the EPs and the remarkable work on the label’s identity managed by Anthony’s friend Jonas Bard (Böfüms) have led the imprint to become a reference in Stockholm and overseas.
The music presented slight change from Abdulla’s sonorities with new textures and auditory spaces explored and connected to the same Scandinavian heritage. A music whose emotion is directly inspired from the Nordics’ landscapes where one can be absorbed by the feeling of eternity the endless horizon of the landscapes and the sense of isolation they can procure. Northern Electronics is inviting to a journey across the realm of his Scandinavian Swords represented by the artists from the label.
Chapter 3: An exploration of the different musical support
When it comes to play or compose music one should ask “Which format will be the most adequate to communicate my work?”. Anthony and Northern Electronics have according to this question a central place in the way they release their tracks.
“How I decide what goes to what format is just a feeling, like – does this music NEED to get on wax or is tape enough? I like listening to tapes because you’re forced to commit to it all the way; it’s not as easy to skip through parts you may not like. That’s how it’s intended to be.”
Nordic Identities: Abdulla Rashim & Northern Electronics
The tape format is quite interesting for hypnotic techno where there is a need to bind the listeners to the path drawn by the artist in order to drive them along. It enables to an LP to reinforce the sentiment of homogeneity while listening to it as one could listen to a set.
That is why Anthony is shifting from a DJ set to a Live performance because the experience will not be the same. Playing a DJ set is relevant for him in order to share the Northern Electronics identity or tracks from other labels which broaden the spectrum of musical exploration. However, to share his complex universe under Abdulla Rashim a live set will give more room to propose a reinterpretation of his whole repertory.