A sound that many have forgotten but one that deserves to be heard, a style that had little pretense and would inspire modern acts like Kettel or EOD. Firescope gazing back to find Bauri at his vintage best.
Nostalgia can be dangerous. The swoon for the past, candied memories of a bygone time. Nostalgia is powerful but it can also be useful, it can have a purpose, it drew me to an artist I followed in my youth and totally lost in my adulthood.
Bauri, aka Martin Abrahamsson, is a Swedish artist who started his career in 2000 and came to embody the video-game infused warmth of electronica of the period. With releases on Neo Ouija, Expanding and Awkward Silence, Abrahamsson achieved quiet acclaim in a short space of time before more or less disappearing, off my radar anyway. 2011 saw Bauri resurface, this time as a no nonsense techno artist, quite the change from the plinky fizz pursued over a decade back. B12 sublabel Firescope appear to have the same nostalgia for Bauri’s early music, delving into the archive of his unreleased second album for a new 12”.
Vinkelvolten can be summarized by the opening track, “Warm Fuzzy Feeling.” The entire outing is draped in a cozy warmth, a gentle embrace as you’re ushered in from the cold to sit by the hearth, take a drink and listen. Crisp beats succumb to thawed notes, a touch of frost clinging as Abrahamsson layers texture. The title piece is a time machine back to those halcyon days. Beats are crunch with a slight hip-hop nod. Keys are soft, playfully dancing past loose basslines in a track full of bright and cheerful innocence. “Kirmumxyl” is blends an ambient lullaby with skittering drums for a stunning example of the genre. “Amethyst” closes. Free reign is given as a medley of styles merge in this whimsical curtain call.
The scrunched chip-tune electronica of the early 2000s was an ephemeral phenomenon. Labels like Toytronic or Suction were pioneers of it, in fact Skanfrom captured it very nicely with his Igloo mix. It’s a sound that many have forgotten but one that deserves to be heard, a style that had little pretense and would inspire modern acts like Kettel or EOD. Firescope gazing back to find Bauri at his vintage best.
Vinkelvolten is available on Firescope.
