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Canada's Hushush Records recently established itself as a quality label to watch for with a mission statement sworn to innovation. "Des Germes de Quelque Chose" is the first release from label-head Dimitri della Faille's solo project, Szkieve, and it's a continuation of the quality the label started out with. According to della Faille, this material is neither noise nor ambient. It's an avant-garde concoction of abstract textures and manipulated frequencies that shatters the guidelines of your average music.

Most of the tracks are saturated with piercing frequencies that send my dog running from the room whimpering... and unfortunately for her, I find that to fully absorb this material it needs to be played nice and loud, allowing all the subtle elements and hidden nuances to surface. This scares me though, since I know my speakers weren't designed for any of it.

"Leipzig Zig Spoutnik" is one of the stronger tracks. It opens with the sound of closing doors and an interesting random cackle, which slowly fades as a haunting set of drones move in and pick up intensity. "Monoise" begins with low bassy rumbles, and then moves on to remind me of the monolith scene from 2001 as a chorus of sharp tones grow louder, as if building up a foreboding, eerie suspense. This track is definitely an example of the minimal approach della Faille has mastered - the 'less is more' dictum is not lost on him. The final track, "Farsifalafel / Heavy Métal," is by far the most chaotic - an uneven, haphazard collage of ringing, static and squeaky samples.

Szkieve isn't my idea of a comfortable listen; in fact it fuels the grudge my ears have been building against my taste in music for years. But it's well worth it.