Warmdesk: Guero Variations
Deluxe

Warmdesk: Guero Variations Variations
A posteriori

Warmdesk: Pistachio
A Touch of Class

Warmdesk: Safety First
A Touch of Class

Naturally, Warmdesk's 2003 Guero Variations calls to mind Bach's Goldberg Variations, a connection strengthened further by their shared sound source, piano. But beyond the overlap in titles, they share little, as Chicagoan William Selman uses the keyboard instrument to generate 'non-played' sound samples. Where did the idea originate? Having tracked down an album by German composer Helmut Lachenmann at the request of a friend, Selman's attention was caught by one of its pieces, “Guero,” in which the piano's insides were played instead of its keys. The discovery proved serendipitous, as he then hatched his own set of variations, the project's methodology conveyed by a singular liner note: “Most Sound = Piano.” Rather than use the Lachenmann recording as sample material, Selman recorded about three to four hours of sounds using a few different pianos, and then edited the recordings into samples and processed the material using various programs. This description might suggest that Warmdesk's variations are of an 'academic' sort, like brittle atonal music that invites admiration but offers scant pleasure. Nothing could be further from the truth, as Selman's approach proves a catalyzing springboard for nine superb excursions into dub-flavoured tech-house. He modifies the originating sounds so completely that virtually any trace of piano vanishes, his transformative approach in sharp contrast to that of Matmos, for example, which deliberately retains a sample source's identifiable character (the plucked and bowed cage in “For Felix (And All The Rats)” just one of many possible examples).

The focus of the nine variations isn't melody per se; hooks definitely won't lodge in your head and bedevil you for days on end. Rather Guero Variations is foremost about groove, but what stunning grooves they are. These supple, texturally rich tracks cruise at a languid pace, and exude the buoyant serenity of a sailboat's graceful glide across becalmed waters. Driving bass lines push the dub-house rhythms forward, showered by a perpetual interweave of lush chords, exotic percussive accents, and dubby echoes. While the pieces do sometimes sound like variations upon a theme, there are also discernible differences between them. The clipped beats and minimal bass figures of “Guero (Paletas),” for example, generate a mellow funk vibe, while the closer “Guero (Vermillion)” offers warm microhouse shimmer that's divine. “Guero (Disco),” on the other hand, is harder-edged techno accented by tearing sounds and handclaps, and is also the one instance where recognizable piano sounds can be heard; one imagines Selman dragging a stick across the instrument's inner wires to generate the track's dulcimer-like strums. Selman's musique concrete approach offers unlimited potential when it's used as remarkably as it is here.

The four-song 12” Guero Variations Variations extends the concept beyond the full-length, with Selman adding two new variations to the initial nine. The detailed “Guero (Band)” opens with creaking, strums, and cranking noises that cohere into a stunningly layered array propelled by thumping tribal patterns. More minimal yet equally effective is “Guero (Preformatted),” dubby click-house with criss-crossing clacks and rattles. As one might expect, Stephan Mathieu's “Guero (Cheap Imitation)” trades propulsion for meditation, transforming Selman's material into mutating pulsation. Mimicking Selman's sample-based methodology, Ulrich Troyer adds kitchen noises to his “Romantic Dinner (Inspired by Guero)” and gives Warmdesk's dub-techno a slightly more conventional, downtempo slant.

The Pistachio and Safety First discs differ subtly in style yet retain Selman's sample-based production method. That Pistachio appears on a Touch of Class, Andy Vaz's Background Records' sub-label, offers an immediate promise of quality and the EP's three minimal techno tracks don't disappoint. The echoing pings and clangs in the buoyantly skipping title track hint that a pistachio bowl might have been struck for a sound source; perhaps shoe sounds were sampled for “Bad Sneakers” but you'd never know it from its funky low-end and snippy hi-hats alone. The spectral chords and deep, undulating bass lines in “Abstract Factory” offer even more evidence of Pistachio's smooth, lush taste.

Safety First, the second 12” for a Touch of Class, comprises three stunningly crafted tracks that blur the boundaries between minimal techno and deep house. Labels hardly matter, though, when the music swings with such buoyancy, and, frankly, to call it minimal makes little sense when the compositions are so textured. But deep? Most definitely. As before, Selman's penchant for musique concrete remains, as water drips and manhandled string instruments comprise some of the sample sources. Clicking shuffle patterns kick the title track along, its bounce sweetened by warm chords and a recurring electro-boogie motif. Midway through, echo effects signal the emergence of Warmdesk's customary dubby touches. The goose-stepping beat and clicketing hi-hats that open “Pression” broaden out to include machine motifs and exotic flickers, and the Proustian-titled “Place Names, The Place” merges cavernous bass lines with a stuttering bass drum, as minimal chords bathe the track with supple warmth and skipping hi-hats bring the house feel to the forefront. It's all excellent stuff that in spite of its elegance never loses its fundamental propulsiveness.