Floex: Gone
Denovali Records

Prague-based Tomáš Dvorák aka Floex follows his 2011 album Zorya with the short but memorable EP Gone (available in digital and ten-inch vinyl formats). Since the release of his debut album Pocustone in 2001, Dvorák has established himself as an award-winning clarinetist, composer, and producer as well as a multi-media artist and soundtrack composer for games. Based on the evidence at hand, Floex distinguishes his electronic material by weaving natural sounds such as clarinet, piano, and vocals into his oft-melancholy ambient-classical settings.

At the EP's start, “Saturnin Fire and the Restless Ocean” embeds his clarinet playing (his “instrumental signature”) within a shimmering mass of electronics, gentle piano flutter, and soft crackle. The presence of Never Sol's crystal clear voice on the melodious title track then elevates the recording dramatically by giving it a plaintive quality that offsets aggressive beatsmithing that, in turn, boosts the song's epic reach (its theme does, after all, concern Apocalypse). “Saturnin Fire and the Restless Ocean” returns, this time as a remix by Joe Acheson (Hidden Orchestra) that plays like a muscular post-rock re-imagining of the original. The EP ends with “Time to Go,” a pretty piano-based setting whose delicate touch might remind certain listeners of Nils Frahm. At fifteen minutes, Gone is over quickly yet is strong enough to make the listener want to hear more of Dvorák's music. In light of that, Zorya would appear to be the logical place to turn.

October 2013