Description

Milieu's first solo release on Boltfish Recordings is a very special one. Originally offered in 2 CD formats, this rare treat featured either:

• 4 x 3 inch discs presented in hand-made packaging in a very limited edition - 17 tracks
• 1 x 5 inch disc offering 15 tracks

This superb release was only available in its limited edition form via this website, and a few selected retailers.

THIS RELEASE IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE FROM THE BOLTFISH CATALOGUE ON CD. HOWEVER, YOU CAN STILL PURCHASE IT VIA DIGITAL DOWNLOAD FROM A RANGE OF ONLINE RETAILERS.

The track order for each version differs, but we have shown below both orders, highlighting the additional 2 tracks by an asterisk*. The Digital version mirrors the 5 inch tracklisting below.

Tracklisting:

4 x 3 inch version		1 x 5 inch version/Digital version
A1	As summer blooms	01	Hidden paths
A2	Thrum	02	Elep
A3	Elep	03	Forest (fast edit)
A4	Cumulus drones	04	As summer blooms
A5	Auburn morning winds	05	Auburn morning winds
		06	Bike trail 2
B1	Hidden paths	07	Lazer rinq
B2	Biketrail 2	08	Sway blue waters
B3	Grass hill (gravel bank)	09	Thrum
B4	Blackwood moth	10	Blackwood moth
		11	Snowhill
C1	Lazer rinq	12	Pileus (infinite edit)
C2	Pileus (infinite edit)	13	Cumulus drones
C3	Sway blue waters	14	Glasshill (gravel bank)
		15	Narthex
D1	Forest (fast edit)
D2	Snowhill
D3	Rain metre (acid edit) *
D4	Smoke stacks *
D5	Narthex

All tracks written and produced by Brian Grainger
© Milieu/Boltfish Recordings 2007
Sleeve design by Milieu/Cheju

Reviews

Igloomag
"...Many of the tracks sit well together and provide an insight into Grainger's subtle experimentation and the way in which he develops and moves forwards with an idea, taking it in different directions as it develops..."
Read the whole review

E|I Mag - August 2007
"Brian Grainger’s second Boltfish waxing, Remodelled, once more finds him spooning oodles of synth wooze over boozed-up breaks and spannering Rhodes-y spangle into psyched-out hops. It’s a melodic gauze balm for the weary soul seeking downbeat ambi-chill solace, but with more of a flavorsome edge of something home-cooked and not quite perfectly formed. Milky analog love music—as self-designated by the Milieu man—of the dreamy but not too doped variety, conjuring a late summer feel of fading lushness and unmappable nostalgics. But wait. These days it seems no Milieu review is complete without carping comparison of his musical output to that of a better-known bunch. A puzzling phenomenon worthy of more than passing scrutiny, considering that no composer in a postmodern paradigm works in a vacuum without the influence of a preceding tradition. The subtle persecution of Milieu perhaps has a spurious provenance, the key salient factor being his issuing of more recordings in 2006-7 than most acts would in a lifetime musical career. The unspoken but palpable underlying feeling is that the artist who releases, say, twenty albums a year is viewed as somehow less worthy than those who issue one every couple; such an artist is not just less worthy, but downright suspicious, and it would be naive to deem him simply a prolific artist endowed with the fortuitous gift of prolificity. No. Such a man is clearly a charlatan shirker of standards, who, rather than subjecting his material to exacting quality control tests, inflicts even his most insignificant act of flatulence on the (increasingly saturated) consumer. Ergo, he may be thought capable of all manner of underhandedness, such as ripping off his music from others. QED. Busted. And here we have further ammunition for the detractors, Remodelled being a veritable gift to them in the form of a set of remodelled old Milieu, as he has now turned to auto-appropriation. Milieu will eat himself. Those "criminal" record reviews typically enumerate a list of Milieu’s infractions and the names of those infracted against, so let those of Casino vs. Japan, Freescha, (early) Ten & Tracer, and Marumari be duly registered, lest bored of candor."

Electronic Desert
"Already past the 40th release marker Milieu’s Remodelled album got the subsequent number 39. It’s a lovely full-length that Milieu has produced and it can be said to be the natural continuation of the Tandem Series 5 from last year (2006). What does it all mean? More nice melancholic melodies, more excellent dry beats set in half-crisp and half-distorted and/or bit-reduced environment all creating great contrast and more refined BOAC homage. All in all a thoroughly enjoyable album and well within Boltfish’s production tolerances and as was stated in the beginning counting in at number 39."

Norman Records
"This dude is a big favourite in the Towers. Opening with some smooth synths it is rocked out with some crazy live drums treated in an electronic way as though there's 4 of them all cracking off together.. It sounds great. As the album develops into more Boards of Canada style electronica we hear sampled drums and traditional "chill out" synth sounds. Lots of reverb and space for you to groove in and dance in white linen."

Heathen Harvest
"I have to admit to being slightly thrown by this release. Records that come encased in lo-fi, seventies-polaroid photo artwork tend not to jump straight into a clattering, drunken breakbeat...but this one does! Taking notes very much from the organic IDM stylings of Boards of Canada, Milieu take us on a hazy journey through dozing beats and looping melodies in a very similar style.
In fact, it's just a shade too similar to Boards of Canada, really. If someone had played me a random track from this CD a few weeks ago then I probably would've thought that it *was* Boards of Canada apart from the fact that it's slightly less interesting. Where Boards of Canada's mellow ambience is pierced by their spot-on choice of eerie and memorable samples, Milieu doesn't really have anything similar to hang onto and the music suffers because of this. It's not to say that the release is particularly bad, quite the opposite, but it never pulls itself up beyond background music.
There are a few moments were something finer shines through, however. "Hidden Paths", the aforementioned opener, is an excellent track and if the album had taken this as its template then things would be far better. "Cumulus Drones" uses a nicely shuffling beat, reminiscent of The Orb's early works, to back a gentle, melody line that fades slowly into nothing.
Brian Grainger, the mind behind Milieu, seems to stack up releases on a fairly rapid basis and maybe this level of prolific output is something of a downfall. Many of the tracks on "Remodelled" feel half-finished - they need an extra layer to fill them out or they just seem to stop, half developed -- and maybe a slower release schedule, with more time taken to tease out the finer parts of the better tracks, would make this a project worth investing more time in.
Promising, if nothing else."

Textura - May 2007
"More electronic music from Boltfish, with this particular installment by Columbia , South Carolina resident Brian Grainger (aka Milieu) entitled Remodelled. Available in two formats (a 15-track CD or 17 tracks spread across four 3-inch discs), Grainger's collection opens with the barrelhouse rabble-rouser "Hidden Paths," thereby suggesting that it may range farther afield than the average Boltfish recording. Unfortunately, like many an electronic producer, Grainger has a soft spot for Boards of Canada and cuts like "Forest (Fast Edit)" and "As Summer Blooms" show he's hardly shy about acknowledging the influence. Here and elsewhere, woozy synth and Rhodes melodies float over crisp hip-hop-flavoured beats in that by-now-familiar BofC style. Even when the beats depart from the template (as they both frenetically and funkily do on "Bike Trail 2" and "Lazer Rinq"), the Warp duo's signature gauzy melodies are never far away. A swinging hip-hop thrust starts "Thrum" promisingly, for example, but the song too-quickly reverts to familiar form while "Snowhill" is pretty much a BofC interlude. Not surprisingly, the most satisfying moments are those when Milieu's sound takes a step towards divesting itself of those derivative qualities (e.g., the livelier, up-tempo attack in "Pileus (Infinite Edit)"). There's no denying the album's overall quality but there's no denying either the overly derivative character of the music. Had Grainger pushed his music in a more unique direction, and furthermore edited the album's running time down from its current 72 minutes to a more svelte 50 or thereabouts, Remodelled would impress more than it currently does."

U-Cover - April 30th 2007
"Brian Grainger aka Milieu ... once again delivers a beautifully warm, dreamy and summery sounding selection of purist Electronica with gorgeous melodies, lush chords and a varied range of rhythmic styles. A lovely collectors item and generally just a lovely piece of musical work. "

VitalWeekly - #569, Week 13
"Boltfish Recordings dabble around with loads of artists, and mostly they are unknown to me. But Milieu is an exception. 'Beyond The Sea Lies The Stars', his debut real CD on Infraction Records was reviewed in Vital Weekly 533, following two releases on U-Cover. That was one was a highly ambient record, but for 'Remodelled' things are spiced up with some beats. With the title taken in account I thought this was a remix record of sorts, and perhaps it is, but if so than it's only Milieu, also known as Brain Grainger, who does the remixing. Maybe the remodeling part lies in the fact that the rhythms are added. As such, in his new guise, he fits very well in the Boltfish catalogue. His rhythms are 'intelligent' sounding and his tracks are much shorter than on his previous excursion. Fifteen pieces no less, which I deem a bit much for the amount of variation it has to offer. That's at least five too much (and that's why the old length of LP is so great), but the ambient doodling set against the mild rhythms, sauced up with some extra reverb to gain some extra, artificial, depth, works well. Quite pleasant, entertaining music, but nothing new under the Boltfish sun (not to mention some of the other labels which work is similar fields)."

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