Stuchka Vkarmanye: Things I Think Whilst Looking at Clouds
Concrete Plastic

Stuchka Vkarmanye: doesn't quite roll of the tongue, does it. Luckily for Eliad Wagner, the man behind the mask, his music rolls out a whole lot more easily. Born and raised in Israel and currently working on his M.A. in the Netherlands, Wagner (he's also the oc-founder of the Israel-based label ±g6pd records) creates his material using analogue electronic instruments and computer programming, four frothy samplings of which show up on his EP for Concrete Plastic, Things I Think Whilst Looking at Clouds.

Led by a warbling analog synth melody, “Cat Food” lunges from the gate with a jubilant mix of keyboard melodies and chattering drum machine beats. The equally radiant “Mumpf” performs staccato cartwheels for a quirky two minutes before the EP's choice cut, “Idan.satan.rahm.spinat,” shows up. Sparked by a lightly swinging funk pulse, chunky synth lines and punctuating chords deliver the synthetic goods with a breezy élan that'd weaken the defences of the most stalwart anti-IDMer. The EP's sole hint of darkness sets in during “Manon” when chiming melodies dance through a landscape of writhing squelch and grime, but no one should mind having a bit of drama on hand to balance out the light-heartedness. Classic IDM seems to be experiencing a resurrection of sorts, or maybe I'm just hearing more of it these days. Regardless, Things I Think Whilst Looking at Clouds riffs on vintage Plaid-styled IDM in a manner that's anything but objectionable.

March 2010