koenraad ecker: ill fares the land

Following on from a couple of strong releases as part of his Lumisokea duo for Opal Tapes, Koenraad Ecker returns with his most intriguing release to date, the first Digitalis release for 2014. Straddling the line between analog electronics, darkened ambience and slow techno, Koenraad Ecker recalls the colossal drone-noise of Mika Vainio and the sharpened bass frequencies of Joachim Nordwall, albeit shot-from-the-hip in a manner befitting his connection with Opal Tapes. Fourteen-minute opener "Oran" is sprawling and resolute, spread across two parts that display Ecker's compositional chops through an impressive mix of blacked-out electronics and horror-filled cello passages. Inside long, drawn out sequences, Ecker avoids repetition and beats down a tonal path where the structure of each piece is dynamic yet cohesive. Sparse beats end up in a death spiral, competing with Ecker's cello and bleak electronics that fill the empty spaces. Like the slow burn of a lit fuse, "One-Eye" crawls through layers of decay before exploding midway through into incalculable chaos. Square waves blot out difficult melodies only to suddenly disappear like a corroded hallucination while white noise builds from short crackles into cavernous rhythms.