Spanning the divide where the lines between house and techno are blurred by an extensive sedateness inhabiting abysmal depths, Philip Sollmann, aka Efdemin has, in contrast to its fathomless feel, put together a towering piece of work. The mixing and mastering process of ‘Decay’ drew inspiration from a three month residency at the Goethe Institute in Kyoto which Sollmann undertook with his partner. And the concept of deterioration, prevalent in Buddhist culture, subconsciously underscores the general timbre of the ten compositions which make up this collection.
From start to finish there is a delicately nuanced fragility which inhabits this body of work. ‘Some Kind Of Up And Down Yes’, with what sounds like spoken word samples from a long-lost US light entertainment show sets the tone with its sparse and supple, sometimes barely-noticeable riddim. It’s rise and fall is echoed chronologically throughout, from the humming, low-key medical machinery of ‘Drop Frame’ to the more earnest jog of ‘Track 93’, which is notable for its sparingly used vocal.
‘Solaris’ is distinctly Millsian, but far from derivative, and both ‘Parallaxis’ and ‘Transducer’ are cut from the same cloth, but gossamer light. ‘The Meadow’ sounds pastoral to my ears, and manages to sound grand and all-encompassing without getting out of second gear, while ‘Decay’ feels primitive and ethnic, its constant low-key buzz underpinned by a more advanced sonication. A characteristic which appears then vanishes is the deft use of the already mentioned spoken word, which is best used when bookending the selection, making its presence felt with a beguiling, implicit gravitas, particularly when “touching music” in ‘Ohara’.
‘Decay’, on the whole, echoes the act of breathing, but not necessarily in the process of deterioration, on so many different levels that it really does feel like a permanently undulating composite being with its multiple facets intact. It’s interesting that Japan proved to be the catalyst for a lot of the material here, and that the clubbers there are currently under the cosh of the Fueiho laws, which ban dancing. Having said that, this album goes far beyond the physical and, in a state of varied abstraction, satisfies on all levels, while pertinently raising the bar that little bit more.
| Artist: Efdemin Title: Decay LP Label: Dial Records Tracklist 01. Some Kind Of Up And Down Yes02. Drop Frame03.Transducer04 Solaris05. Decay06. Subatomic07. Track 9308. The Meadow 09. Parallaxis10. Ohara Our rating: 8/10 |  |
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