Tuomo Väänänen – Topics - Ljudverket Records | The Electro Review

Tuomo Väänänen
Topics
Ljudverket Records
TBR: 5th October


Co-captain of Ljudverket Records, Tuomo Väänänen, has produced another glittering sensation. This new album, made in Finland then mastered in Germany by Scape, takes a scenic route through the forests of dub and techno while absorbing natural harmonics that thread through in slow moving stitches. The record label is known for adopting music that puts in extra effort to isolate and define each sound as it happens, mastering the art for the few who really pay attention appeals to the intelligentsia of electronic music.


The album begins with Contain. A deep and brassy drone sound gathers amplitude like notches on a spindle string. As the coils grow in width extra contours to the body reveal as interesting harmonisations and warps. Sticky rhythms click in gentle sparks as singing towers of sound waft their voices downward. The droning sound grows further, entering a new phase of existence with humming fizz which crackles with power. New percussion begins to shudder beneath the electrifying harmonics. This builds with intensity as synthesiser washes clean the dusty atmosphere.


The next number begins with an ethic sounding percussion that gradually builds with shamanic timbre. Windy sonic castings creep along their trajectories as the sky unfolds with the passing of time. New drums burst into the mix, chatty tribal resonances mix with full-on snare that slaps with expressive vigour. This is Market and it feels like it isn't just for us. All manner of cultures congregate to choose and select within little bubbles of garnered society. New melody rises from the drums with synthesised blips which dripple like rainy windowsills. Cobblestone and tapping canvas dance in the shimmering flap of loosely tied awnings.


We're drawn down and in for the third track. Moody chords strike at bass notes as trumpeting emotions sing in wavering lines. Smooth drums with a delicate jazz feel rattle on in neat passages. Rhythmic melody grows and froths in bubbling emphasis as slender rhythms build castles on the layers of harmony. Enclose is like breathing, and as it progresses a wash of moving static envelopes the sound and fills our imagination with formless energy. Sudden lifts in subtle aspects give way to a chaotic order as the track matures beyond its original shape.


Garden opens with dampened chimes which shiver in murky atmosphere. As the gentle air moves through hanging metal tubes they clamour with touch-soft strikes in muffled and thick moisture, A gloomy enchantment whispers through the growing kinesis. New tones scoop pastoral fallows in the shimmering footfall. Falling light bounces from uneven surfaces as footstep like scales adapt into odd modes with the spreading of time. As the music shifts and progresses the symphonic quality breathes in discordant stairwells as hazy mirages distort the distances into focus.


Angelic spiral journeys rise from the quiet as chirping and harmonics fold together. Drums begin to shuffle in slow yet meaningful paces across the wide-open floor. Extra layers of percussion tingle with vibrancy as minimal bass drags a heady tempo in lieu. Strategy grows like strange plants, leaning and reaching as various rays of light shine in from glassy skies. A thundering drum with tubular resonance starts to plough through the fertile field as it bounces on clods and clumps laid down by the harvester.


The album ends with Project. Deep and resonant drums begin to stomp in wooden trenches lines with curls of brambly hedges that tower into watchful barricades. Hypnotic paces pull the energy on into white brilliance as the colours fade with the sonic glare. Like the icy plains of the artist's home, a glittery horizon notches forward as gradual steps traverse the rolling drifts.


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IDA Radio · Ljudverket 06.07.20