HERZEL :: See² (Evel)

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See² is a brimming collection of diamond-cut electronic gems that simply sparkle from every angle and comes highly recommended.

It’s a welcomed retreat taking in all of the abstracts created on See² as there are just so many sweet electronic sound sculptures to consume. Here, HERZEL transports us back a few decades with precise melodic strands and punchy percussion, massaging the senses. Clearly on See², reflections from labels such as Toytronic, Pause_2, and Awkward Silence, are in sight, which in the early oughts evoked focused rhythmic electronic bubbles throughout their roster of talent—reference: Point 7, Gimmik, Infinite Scale, Millieu, Cheju, Bauri, Maps And Diagrams, and EU.

Saso Popovski’s sax sections on “eRPaPs,” which seamlessly blends electronic and instrumental elements, is one example of the unstoppable momentum maintained by these nostalgic textures and tones, drifting ambient-electronic threads, and brief sonic images. The core of this release is that the vast volume of ideas is contained within a large glass chamber rather than appearing to run amok. Crunchy and detuned pitter-patter beats represent a wide range of colors matched with evolved drum’n glitch acrobatics in the title track (and “Water Witch,” to some extent). Once more, HERZEL (also known as Aleksandar Grozdanovski) finds solace in these little bursts of sound.

From the static fuzz and dispersed melodic notes of “Bite Work,” to the modular cascading undertones of “Detuned Poles,” or the washed-out watercolor dronescape of “Zemya,” to the inhabited brittleness of “Clone Field” with its powerful and subtle harmony to contrast with “See,” a bumpier percussive experiment, See² is a brimming collection of diamond-cut electronic gems that simply sparkle from every angle and comes highly recommended.

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