New York-based electronic composer oddlogic just dropped a new EP entitled forsythia, and it’s just one of many compelling releases from his catalog. He released the EP on his own label, Outlier Recordings, which has a long history of releasing artists that No Smoking certainly fucks with (MATAS and m∞n, for example). In any case, I won’t hold you up for too long – stream away ~
This EP is meant to be treated as a continuous sixteen-minute soundbite, but oddlogic has been kind enough to slice it up into individual tracks for our internet consumption pleasure. A short, swirlingly ambient intro establishes the sort of mellifluous and flowing tone of the EP before “Stray” kicks in, a track whose rhythms and textures make me immediately recall the sensibilities of Nicolas Jaar. The track contrasts a continually pulsing tone with clicking percussion and very wavy melodic overdubs for a very pleasant progressive cadence, making me feel like I’m on a futuristic rail speeding around some bleak dystopian landscape. “Dirge” is a little more moderately paced, featuring a panoramic mix-picture of click-beats (it feels like a shimmering wall of percussion at points, fascinating with good speakers) and a distorted low vocal sample. A point of commonality with the second track is that it also feels like it’s music for journeying,
“Dramamine” feels at once old-timey and industrial, and now that we’ve kicked the half-way point of the EP I can say with comfort that the composition of these tracks (slow or moderate-paced groove progressions with bleak textures) is what makes the EP cohere. These tracks feel like birds of a feather. Peas in a pod. Another euphemism. But seriously, this EP is pretty much perfect as film soundtrack, or so I’d imagine; it’s very easy to imagine visual accompaniment for these sounds. “Dramamine” walks a line between ambient industrial and nu-jazz, toying with both acoustic instrumentation and the usual sample-and-loop audio stitching technique. The title track, “Forsythia,” has a decidedly nostalgic or rainy-day feel to it, which I suppose could explain the general low-lighting vibe of the EP. It’s a very delicately layered composition, alternating plinking synth rhythms with orchestral-sounding synth swells and round bass tones. All in all, I’m left feeling sort of pensive and silent after a thorough listen to forsythia; it’s a coherent release with both variety and internal consistence, which is pretty much all I ask from music.
Keep up with oddlogic on facebook and buy his tunes on the Outlier Recordings bandcamp.
