Sternweite is a welcomed foray into IDM’s kick-off years, the nostalgic flare for polished, tempered, and downtrodden harmonies is ever-present from start to end, proving easily that Xtraplex knows how to unearth treasures buried deep in Belgian soil.
Belgian net-label Xtraplex released Analept’s Sternweite in November 2016, a flickering look back into times gone by. Electronica at its core, IDM veterans Autechre, Aphex Twin and Boards of Canada are sited as influences, and rightly so. Sternweite reveals a sojourn through tranquilized bass-laden audio photos, opener “Hexyl” flows through acidic shapeshifting bursts and polyrhythms scattered about.
Analept seems content with the late 90s and early aughts, a time when labels like Warp, Neo Ouija, DeFocus, Toytronic, n5MD and City Centre Offices concentrated on displaying emotive electronic music for armchair listeners. “Rising Box” delves into a 58-second ambient interlude only to introduce the nine-minute “Exhausted” opus—filled with fragrant melodic bubbles and percussive starbursts. Several downtempo clips slither throughout as evidenced on “The Mind.” Sternweite—German for “stellar distance”—is an apt title that revolves around pleasant sonic shifts, rubbery tones, and magnetic drones. On the more instrumental, guitar-infused “Sequeia,” the listener is treated to relaxed, leftfield Loess-styled open spaces. Yet another highlight along this cosmic stream is “Monombra,” a rugged, bass-beat haven that spins in a loop with acidic undertones and ambient wanderings.
Somewhere lost in abandoned fields, Sternweite is a welcomed foray into IDM’s kick-off years, the nostalgic flare for polished, tempered, and downtrodden harmonies is ever-present from start to end, proving easily that Xtraplex knows how to unearth treasures buried deep in the Belgian soil.
Sternweite is available on Xtraplex.
