Magazine
Tapage & Meander – Etched in Salt (TA050)
Last week we reviewed Ophidian's Abandon EP. This week he’s back as Meander together with his friend Tapage. They joined forces before in 2005 when they produced the “Phataa Diin God EP” (Bionic 011) and in 2006, resulting in the “Hydromedusa EP” (META0 01). Both Ep’s were a great success.
Now 4 years later, they teamed up again and restarted their creativity machine, giving us another glimps of what magic they can do with electronic instruments. Some of these tracks were waiting for about 10 years to only now see the light of day, according to Tapage.
For those who don’t know what style these guys produce: It’s not hardcore but IDM (Intelligent Dance Music) with a touch of Industrial. You can compare it with Aphex Twin (for example “Classics”) or Polygon Window (Quoth). It’s the kind of electronic music you’re suppossed to listen to, absorbing it like a sponge, instead of moving to it.
So let’s hear what they have in store for us this time.
They start off with “California Blue”, a harmonic track which gets you going for the rest of the ride. “The Tide” starts off a little more energetic. It’s faster and contains more rhythmic elements. This track has a beautiful break in the centre, after which the track continues to glide on.
starts as a quiet track, building up slowly when the first distorted basses appear. After approximately 2 minutes, quite an uplifting melody starts, bringing some happiness into this track. Compared to “Tolopea”, “Hydrostatic Skeleton” is more melancholic. This could be a good soundtrack for movies like American Beauty or Donnie Darko, just to name a few.
The next track “Subumbrella Dispute” has a realy nice vibrating rhythm. Its slightly distorted synthesizer gives this track an extra dimension, combined with the harmonic soundscapes that are present here and in almost every other track.
It’s kind of hard to review each single track, but we couldn’t skip “Oceanographic”. This track deserves your attention from the first note played 'til the last one. It starts with a dark, heavy synthesizer tone that feels like a blanket covering up everything. Though, throughout the track, this dark blanket gets lighter and lighter. By being pitched up and streched out, a whole new melody gets the chance to submerge from below. “Oceanographic” is not an easy track to listen to, but it has a great variety of sounds and melodies.
After various faster tracks like “Plankton”, which is the hardest of all tracks, but also has a very great synthesizer melody, “Oceanographic” and “Nectocalyx Barrage”, “Osedax” goes back a few steps. Merely soundscapes fill the space, accompanied by a slow bassline containing just the right amount of percussion. Combined, they set the right vibe. The melody slightly intensifies halfway through the track. Compare it with walking through an underground cavesystem, when suddenly entering a passage, finding yourself in a bright space, giving you a spectacular sight. “Abyssal Plain” blends in smoothly with “Osedax”. See it as a continuation of that mindtrip we started the previous track.
The last track of this album “Delicate Hydroid” has, again like most tracks, a very nice slow bassline full of repetitive percussion elements which creates a somewhat weird, spooky yet surprising atmosphere like in a Tim Burton movie.
As we leave the wonderous world of IDM it becomes clear that this album is more than just a bunch of pitched up, streched out, reversely played, distorted samples. Every note has been chosen carefully, to give each track a specific atmosphere and emotional load. Not always easy to recognize but certainly there.
If you’re not used to listening to these kind of tracks, just try out one or two to start with. After repeatingly playing them, you’ll see they get better and better each time.
Who to give most credit for this release? It doesn’t matter. Both producers have created one hell of an album.
Final Score: 4 out of 5.
Tracklist
1 - California Blue
2 - The Tide
3 - Tolopea
4 - Hydrostatic Skeleton
5 - Subumbrella Dispute
6 - Plankton
7 - Atolla Wyvillei
8 - Oceanographic
9 - Nectocalyx Barrage
10 - Osedax
11 - Abyssal Plain
12 - Delicate Hydroid
Label: Tympanik Audio
Release Date: 08-11-2010
