elinch - Diaries
by Ellison Wolf
The second release in the burgeoning Expert Sleeper’s catalog, Diaries from the German musician/artist elinch starts off with a texture so elemental, it's as if your lungs were a pump organ and you were listening to the sound of your own content breathing after climbing a not-too-big-mountain—one that needs no oxygen tank but still offers a life altering view. Track 2 is all about shifting repetitions, one flowing into the next until rhythmic pulses enter to break the trance., while the following track is semi-musical meandering piano lines repeating and intertwining eventually getting drowned out in a fog of synthy reverb drone. Track 7 is a simple exercise of dual piano lines going slowly in and out of sync, one being just slightly nudged ahead of the other until change occurs at about the halfway point of the song. More piano that sounds like semi-conscious tinkering, sweet soft swirling pads, and ethereal bursts fill out the rest of Diaries, the second half as strong as the first. Made with modular synths, but not quite sounding like it, there are no harsh sounds throughout the release: Not one thwacking snare, or shrill synth pad to ruin the mood or demonstrate lack of restraint. Diaries is a very welcomed collection coming at a very needed time.