Ambient streams dance about fluttering beats and driving rhythmic bursts of light. Brisk, melodic, and augmented armchair downtempo that deserves a thorough listen front to back.
Stanislav Kovalev, also known as Keiss, delivers yet another bewildering release titled Tau Ceti (named after a single star in the Cetus constellation), nine tracks and three remixes by Carbinax, Karsten Pflum, and Sobrio. Each audible slice crafted with finesse, Keiss is able to tug at the heartstrings while transmitting moving electronic tones, drones, and analog bliss.
Ambient streams dance about fluttering beats and driving rhythmic bursts of light. Delving into chilled atmospherics, glitchy, faster-paced drums inhabit the sound space—as noted on the transformative “Progulka” where dribbling notes fall by the wayside. “Drawing Pad”—perhaps the most direct and pulsing of all—evolves its fluid bass mechanics and emotion by coalescing into a refined masterpiece. Karsten Pflum takes “Drawing Pad” to extraterrestrial levels, dub elements are scorched and twisted about slapstick beats and undulating downbeat ingenuity. “Shelest” is redefined by Carbinax, originally a tranquilized stream of subconscious containing drifting, rapid-fire glitch’n bass, its remix is stripped down to raw elements only to be elevated to a larger than life version of itself—drums flying in the breeze, voices gliding by peacefully. “Eightfold Way” segues into minimal terrain, finding its path among brittle keys as Sobrio adds a few spices to the remix—a slightly darker aura, its weaving trajectory is both delicate and unrelenting.
Tau Ceti simply ebbs and flows, natural sounds blend with supernatural, low-end bits and bobbles ease the listener while recalling to mind creative ambient-electronics of yesteryear. Brisk, melodic, and augmented armchair downtempo that deserves a thorough listen front to back.
Tau Ceti is available on Touched Music.
