Every track is its own unique flavor and audio trip, yet the cohesion of the album’s story sticks to the ears like sonic glue.
Like cosmic communication in your imagination
With an awesome background that includes having lived in Chicago, New York, the Bay Area (Oakland, CA) and currently Brussels, Belgium; up and coming Dana Kuehr is a dynamic individual and artist. While she is well known for her excellent radio shows and DJ’ing on Kiosk Radio, she has also been creating a versatile and tasty sound of electronic music that takes listeners on a spiritual sonic experience. Now, the time has arrived for her debut album, a double LP on the fine quality Basic Moves label based out of Brussels. Officially and fittingly titled WTRTMPL 2LP as it dedicated to a lake she admires, Dana’s album is a pure and flowing experience of style and atmosphere. Every track is its own unique flavor and audio trip, yet the cohesion of the album’s story sticks to the ears like sonic glue.
The A side opens with mystic energy, the type that moves the body and mind with ease beginning with the Forest and Aquatic auras of “How Do We Continue,” a hybrid of a track that has vibrant tastes of house, techno, acid on the menu, while upon arrival, its confident and rolling bassline alone does plenty to move you. The chords here are of a warm and therapeutic melody, breezy in feel and texture with progressions and change ups in the arrangement that make this track a true listening treasure. The track also has that lively rainforest atmosphere complete with bird chirps and nature tricks complimenting the magical melody and deep kicks.
The fun continues with mystic forest vibes in A2 “Almagest Slide.” Anticipation is built up quite well with the ethereal delivery and serene moods of the pads in this track, while a playful effects treated break drum arrangement shuffles the experience even deeper, making you feel right at home in the core of this production. The sonic experience in A2 is true ear candy, ambient, psychedelic, and nourishing auras dominate in this scenic audio view of breaks.
A pure and flowing experience of style and atmosphere ::
Side B opens with the dreamy “Cloud B,” colored finely by ghostly and winking smile melody, and atmosphere that brings to mind peaceful days at a foggy sea. The track is levels deep with warm, wooly, pillow-soft chords massaging the senses over minimal yet very effective kick based techno rhythm. Full of mystique, and easy to get lost in, when it comes to deep tracks with a story, “Cloud B” certainly gets a win.
The grip of the album doesn’t let go as the second slab of this vinyl album commences and dives into acid-soaked depths of aquatic and healing electro with “Great Lakes, Empty Branches”—purely one for the body and the mind, theres a lot of funk to behold in the arpeggiated lysergic basslines that flow with a patient current of midnight flavored, sensual chords, and the sounds of nature and animals one might hear early hours near the harbors. The kick and 808 clap rhythm welcomes the listener gracefully with tastes of conga percussion while perfectly holding together the hypnotic experience in the soul of this track. “Great Lakes, Empty Branches” perhaps refers to the colder seasons in the Midwest, however the occasion here is certainly warm and lively beneath the icy waters.
C2 brings quite a healthy mental choice to the plate with “Realm 8.” Funky, futuristic, rejuvenating, and thought-stimulating can effectively describe this piece. “Realm 8” floats between abstract techno and electro personality in its kick work and silky smooth snare shuffles, while its arp whistles and high organs play out like cosmic communication in your imagination. The leads here create an almost tropical and sunny presence, yet are so deep into the future in texture, like a 3D moment in the ears. “Realm 8” is one of the deepest tracks on this very deep album, and a perfect sonic solution for hours of late.
WTRTMPL concludes beautifully with “BECAUSE” on side D. It’s a dreamy, lucid, and romantic deep house affair with electronic claps, shuffling metallic snares, and the perfect “organic meets electronic” texture of percussion. Uplifting strings, ruby-textured leads, and surreal atmospheric vocals from Dana make this quite a sense fulfilling journey, complete with its dynamic nature. The strings and percussion all go through fluid peaks and progressions, sometimes fading out in favor of dreamy and hazy arpeggios that take your ears and mind where they need to go. “BECAUSE” is a fine display of Dana Kuehr’s versatility, delivering in an exquisite way with colorful vibrations, windy vocals at just the right moments, textured percussion, and deep house sensibilities.
A dynamic, futuristic, and spiritual LP ::
From A to D, WTRTMPL delivers and impresses as a dynamic, futuristic, and spiritual LP. The sonic experience is as if techno and nature, or machine and forest, merge into one to envelope the mind and ears; Dana’s debut has the touch of an artist who has been doing this for years, and she should definitely be one that deep listeners are checking for, as this album drives the intrigue to hear her sound more. As much as each track can stand on its own, the cohesive quality of listening to the album as a whole is full blown; there’s a surreal, cosmic, and organic vibe that thrives and makes every track feel alive—the overall result is feeling over genre, and WTRTMPL is highly recommended for great electronic music complete with beautiful album visual art. Both DJ’s and appreciative deep listeners alike should have much fun with this 2LP, in addition to Dana’s excellent production and the amazing sound mastering, it is also mixed by Dan Piu aka George Btp. An album full of quality.
Basic Moves 18 is available on Basic Moves. [Bandcamp]
