Enthusiastic darkness boils over this new track from Koenraad Ecker, half of the excellent duo Lumisokea. “Oran” is the 14 minute-opener for Ecker’s new LP on Digitalis, Ill Fares the Land. As if the length wasn’t dizzying enough, the track packs plenty of scratching, sighing, and throbbing textures; more than a sufficient amount to punish the happiest parts of anyone’s hopeful Sunday outlook.
Dusty roads of droning analog electronics and cello stretch between and connect ruined cities of sub-bass beats. Ecker’s first teasing dramatic swell sounds like it’s swimming in the same ocean as Lussuria’s devastating American Babylon. This pummeling experience leads to more uncertainty, heralded by a haunting, scraping cello that continues through to the track’s final rhythmic gauntlet. Each new idea sounds well-sculpted and detailed – no tone is left unturned, and the results are rich and powerful in the bleakest sense.
Stream “Oran” below – pick up the LP here.