(Hidden Shoal)

More quality rainy day music from German ambitronica auteur

Former Bones keyboardist Jo Dürbeck – aka one-man minimal electronica project Jumpel – knows how to extract emotion from technology. Delicate, as if feather-painted, his sophomore release Deuxième Bureau further develops the template set by 2007 debut Samuel Jason Lies On The Beach. Opening in a stately fashion with Leaves, the album reads like an Ambient 101; Considering The Kicker Knows It fade-ins and Things Are Different’s melancholic music box patterns and string washes channel exquisite Lost In Translation ennui. Placid throughout, the tempo only slightly increases with Knasper 6’s Four Tet-like breaks and Over About’s semi-funky groove (also featuring tasty, very Saint Etienne piano chords), only to wind down again with Joe Couldn’t Make It Tonight’s semi-Oriental tinklings. Guitars are deployed sporadically, but to brilliant effect; the minimal, sustained bends lacing Quicken Belts echo Pink Floyd while the airy Clay State boasts a saturated chorus-drenched riff that is Robin Guthrie down to every note. Jumpel’s labelmate Eluvium has yet to write a piano melody as pretty as in Matter Of Time; Dense Dust’s synthesised orchestra could have come straight from an imaginary cosmic symphony and beautifully-realised closer The Sea/Friends (all lonely ship and distant seagull sounds) radiates oceanic calm. Put this on, turn off your mind, relax and float downstream: thank you, Jo and Hidden Shoal Recordings.

DENIS SEMCHENKO

Be first to comment on this article

Write Comment
Comments are submitted for possible publication on the condition that they may be edited. Poster's IP addresses are logged.
Name:
Comment:
Code:*