Véjopatis – Taskas (album)

This is another review written for VKRS that I choose to cross-post on this blog. This time of the mythical offering of Taskas. 

Cold tear records continues their strong form with a curious gem of melodic dubtechno by artist Véjopatis. An artist who just released the album Taskas.

Unlike the forms of dub-techno which goes into drone infused ambient territories, like with the excellent artist Mon0, here we get an artist who blend clear melodic structures mingling with some of the typical traits of the genré. What first struck me were the Lithuanian vocals, allegedly this being traditional folk singing which harmonizes perfectly with the musical world of Véjopatis.

I also enjoyed hearing some recurring themes in this work too, like the beginning track Apejo Saulite and its reprise Sauliute. It gives the album a thematic touch, making it more then the sum of its parts. Oft we have a bunch of tracks, hopefully great, but which seems like nothing linking them together. Not so this time.

As far as I have seen this is the début album of Véjopatis, which bodes well for this artist, and for us too, as we can hopefully look forward to more where this came from. While trying to learn more about the artist in question, I found out an interesting detail about the name Véjopatis, as it contains references to European mythology. A search for the name on Google generated a result in the book Indo-european myth and poetry, by author L.M West. In it, it is said that Véjopatis or Véjdievs were the name ascribed by Baltic pagans to their God of the wind.

We know from the world of music that inspiration drawn from myth can act as a powerful indigrient, and to find this in dub-techno is very promising. I can only hope that more artists let their own sonic experimentations mingle with myth and tradition. I enjoy the thought that the modern is combined with voices past sung. Especially when done in a honest and thoughtful way, such as it is with Taskas.

Véjopatis- Taskas

Slownoise – Dark Matter EP

This is a review of the excellent artist Slownoise EP Dark Matter, that I crosspost from VKRS. It is a  more lenghty review then what I usually do in english. It has also been quoted on Cold tear records website.

"Cold Tear Records are a rising star on the net-label scene. They are also the outlet for dub-techno artist Jeremy Davies, a.ka Slownoise’s latest release – Dark matter EP. It’s a gem, a testimony of what can be done with dub-techno and is anything but standard.

In the short description found on the label’s site, we learn that Davies were influenced by astronomy writing this EP. I imagine looking at the vast expanses of the sky makes for great inspiration, perhaps also something for the listener to think of while enjoying this offering. Looking strictly at the end result I feel that there is a form of understated intensity in which he drives the slew of tracks forward into something which feels both vintage and fresh at the same time.

The strictness of techno is definetly there, especially in the rhythms, while the relaxing forms of dub makes this into a journey putting my mind at ease. This combination is hardly new, but the level of craftsmanship Slownoise shows is rare. It is also quite gritty and comes with an unpolished feel, that should appeal to those who preferr to steer away from a crystal clear sound that sometimes end up sounding stale and lifeless.

My favorite on Dark matter is the track The great attractor, which pays homage to early electronic dub while having a playful feel, blending percussive elements with deep bass while saturated delays tear the monotonous melodic stabs into something quite unlike itself. Also Dark Flo is worthy of mention, as it blurs the edges between dubby techno and 2-step, employing a rhythm which is less strict – but thankfully with none of the fanatical “massive drop”-hysteria heard in the contemporary dubstep scene.

The remix-team does a good job as well. Here we have Brickman, Giriu Dvasios, Soap and Moonwalker all chiming in with one remix each. 

All in all this is a solid release, with eight tracks to lighten the night sky – and nicely enough it can be downloaded freely from archive.org or Bandcamp.For those who think this kindness should be rewarded, Cold tear records also has the EP out in CD-format for purchase online."

Slownoise - Dark matter EP