ESKMO
SOL
APOLLO RECORDS

Originally printed in Now Then Magazine issue 84

When asked about the political correctness of their name, I’m sure the usual answer is “I wasn’t there”. That being said, this record is named after our own star, the centrepiece of our astronomical neighbourhood.Sol, the Spanish word for ‘sun’, is also Latin for ‘solution’, or the verb ‘to solve’, and this is a record that solves one big music problem that has dominated the scene for many years. Only Moby did it well in the mainstream, Bjork touched on it, but Eskmo is singing cleanly over space age, ambient, chiming electro. Combining the palatable with the experimental is no easy task. 

Vocals dress the abstract and far-out workings like crisp linen shirts, pressed and fitted. They do carry effects and the music does mirror their emotive elements, but we don’t lose the feel. The thing about this formulation of keys and rhythms is that it places us in a vessel on psychedelic oceans, among stars, DNA strands and grey aliens handing us books about Zen flower arrangement. We get all this, plus a heartfelt human voice, lending what we sometimes call reality to what is otherwise an acid trip for the ears.

As an album, the opener is grandiose, spectacular and I didn’t want it to end. I felt empowered. From here on, my mood was toyed with, shifted and enlightened. The tracks urged me to keep going, feeling the breeze of eternity as the moments streamed past me. The standout track for me is ‘The Sun Is a Drum’. A cheeky reminder of the intro track twinkles that bit of me that craved its return, then boom, whoosh and lift off. It takes everything from the album and that original feeling together like a fusion of swell. It’s the punchline, but it’s not funny - it’s musically devastating. In the best sense, of course.

Rowan Blair Colver

JEFRE CANTU-LEDESMA
A YEAR WITH 13 MOONS
MEXICAN SUMMER RECORDS

Originally printed in Now Then Magazine issue 83

The Texan electronic music Einstein launches 2015 into an age of musical frontiers. With a cosmic flavour, this digital composer of over 20 years’ experience brings us a new twist on romantic ambience.

Like the sunrise on the Earth as seen from the lunar surface, the entrance of the album is bright, head-noisy and full of energy. Huge columns of sound sprinkle as if sunbeams creeping over the continents. A satellite signal manages to crumble through the natural chaos, clicking and beeping in frantic speculation, but for us the dawn is all there needs to be. Swathes of enchanting, hammered strings sweep us into the next track. The listener, safe and cosy in a little boat, surfs on the crest of a coursing shard of light.

Mechanical feels take the music further into sci-fi, detuned radio samples expertly woven into shoe-gazing atmosphere makes the next track, ‘Love After Love’, speak more of what the disk is doing, where it wants to go. This is a work of reminiscence. Still deeper it journeys, where the pulse becomes sensual, the echoing chord progression mirroring the ebb of gravity. Sometimes we are enough to just be, and this is where we are at.

A story unfolds, not only with clever track titles but in the technical direction of each track. Yes, they all sound like the same artist, and yes, they fit nicely together, but for electronic music their unique flavours are remarkably worked. Although entertained and pleasantly distracted from past moments, it doesn’t take long before the similar feel of the sunrise haunts us again, albeit with a new backdrop. As we travel from moon to moon, we encounter beauty in light several times.

Caution: May leave listener lost in thought.

Rowan Blair Colver

ARCA XEN
MUTE RECORDS

Originally printed in Now Then Magazine Issue 81

Delicate electronica, laced with a tingling anticipation, Xen is an album of short, snappy and beautiful moments. The experience throws us directly into the storm with the spicy, pretty but harsh ‘Now You Know’. Like brightly coloured clothes, the opener is set to impress and extrovertly introduces the feel of what is inside.

Excitingly moody leaps from pulsing melodic rhythms to sheer banging noise really make this album something to explore. Because of its choppy nature, it’s difficult to memorise and become familiar with, but I like this. Albums can become overheard and this one doesn't take that risk. The creative palette on offer is one of a true composer. 
Riffs that sound like a dreamy Vangelis broken down with modern loop scoring help something that began way back in the 20th century extend from its roots, split in the trunk and branch out into a lush organism. Each piece of musical time is used to its potential, and missing beats and purposeful mistiming launch the listener into a realm of drama. Lyrics need not apply.

Aquamarine scenes of underwater orchestras come to mind as the tranquil and meandering ‘Failed’ creates a pause in the frantic energy and drive. Swelling from this point, melody takes a forward seat. Movements of nicely mixed space-age keys glide across the surface of beats in ‘Thievery’, the track which accompanies a sensual and evocative video as the first single. An element of childish stealth and secrets captivates the mood of Xen - a passion for exotic flow and drama, a sprinkle of heat, but most of all a solid understanding of what makes every second tick. 

Rowan Blair Colver