Rod Modell (aka DeepChord) is a sound-designer with 25 years involvement in electronic music and over 50 releases under various aliases and styles. Rod's idea of an album revolves around a concept that isn't always followed in modern day electronic long-players. A chain of feelings and emotions emanate from his work and flow in a manner that has been very carefully considered. Buzzing in atmospheric warmth and layered with mesmerizing rhythms, Hash-Bar Loops tells the tale of a hazy extended stay in Amsterdam, where the album was in the most part formed. Starting from deep and dreamy soundscapes, the album warms from the outset with the opener, "Spirits." The underlying atmosphere is somewhat disconcerting, but balances perfectly with soft, distant chords and ever-evolving percussion. The album progresses through turbulent synths and outlying melodies on "Sofitel" and "Merlot." On "Tangier," stabs and textures melt into one another, adding tension and dynamics in true DeepChord style. The swirling air of "Electromagnetic" then conveys a dizzying and hypnotic feel in which budding chords emerge from a white-washed DC soundscape. "Balm" steps into another world, with beautiful hovering chords that pulse throughout the track, forming a delicate and emotive shape. The climactic "Oude Kerk" sits at the peak of this album and deserves its crown. Arguably the most exposed of all tracks on the album, "Oude Kerk" fizzles end to end, letting the deep low frequencies and advancing percussion take over. "City Centre" then reels the synths back in, with contemplative pads that are underpinned with arguably the heaviest sub-bass on the album. Field recordings can once again be heard, hidden deep in the layers of sound on "Crimson" and "Black Cavendish," where their dense sonics slowly swell behind metallic clangs. Closing the circle, "Neon" and "Rain" steps back into the deep and wistful soundscapes heard at the opening of the album where the familiar sense of unease and contemplation toy with one another. In Soma's 20th anniversary year, they count themselves truly fortunate to be able to release music they love this much.