Recommended
Wicca // Airsilk
Label: RDL47 Records
Format: Digital
Release Date: 15/11/2014
My headphones are broken. The hi-end distorts harshly making samples difficult to decipher, whilst the low-end snarls out at awkward intervals. Despite the fact Airsilk’s warped productions are no stranger to rugged, harshly overdriven sounds themselves however, listening to ‘Wicca’, his latest EP between headphones and fully-functional speakers the difference is fairly conspicuous. In short, Airsilk’s production skills are of such a level that his tracks have an exact, engineered quality to them despite the excess of noise and distortion.
In general there is something slightly unhinged to the entire EP. Undoubtedly its most common ties are found in techno, yet the work here feels less about being dancefloor functional, instead inviting the listener to stand back and simply bask in the sheer physicality of the sound. Take ‘Eight Bisons’ or ‘Bark Replacement’ for example, groaning low-end heaving its way through clamourous percussion. Whilst both tracks maintain a steady rhythm the arrangements are expectedly unconventional; like industrial machinery whirring relentlessly.
The title track equally bears little in the way of restraint - the space between Airsilk’s pummelling kick drums are flooded with static, snares snapping menacingly in the distance. At the ninety second mark these slightly blurred sounds are jerked into full focus with bone-shattering intensity. Any excess reverb is shed as the full weight of Airsilk’s off-kilter arrangement is unleashed.
Some degree of orthodoxy is to be found in 138’s remix of title track ‘Wicca’ however, adding a regimented 4/4 stomp without loosing the rugged aesthetics of the original. Fifth Wall signee completes the package with a recasting of ‘Bark Replacement’ similarly seeking to rationalise Airsilk’s derailed approach. A faint melody purrs seductively through a fog of static, vapourous chimes barely audible through Myler’s stumbling rhythms.
Having put out just a couple of remixes previously, the ‘Wicca’ EP comprises the first complete solo release from Airsilk, presenting a solid representation of his mangled, leftfield approach to techno, of which we hope there are many more to come.
- Published
- Nov 9, 2014
- Credits
- Words by Theo Darton-Moore