RVDS, Richard Graf von der Schulenburg, undoubtedly has the silver box bug. Yet he comes at the writhing wiggle of acid like few others. His latest album is testament to his love of that squirming sound and so much more.
Acid seems to be an addiction. Once you lay hands on a TB303, or a clone, it seems to infect and spread through the musical mind. What was dubbed as a machine of constrictive limitations has become a cornerstone of electronics. RVDS, Richard Graf von der Schulenburg, undoubtedly has the silver box bug. Yet he comes at the writhing wiggle of acid like few others. His latest album is testament to his love of that squirming sound and so much more.
Shadows is RVDS’ fourth solo album and, if you are new to the German artist, is a wide cross section of his music. The triple LP adheres to no one style, the only constant is—you guessed it, the rumbling liquid bass of a certain Roland synth. Echoing emptiness and reverb are countered by exotic vistas and mechanical lounge grooves. There is a loneliness to the record. Pieces like “Tears” and “Ghosts” tell their own tale, melancholy tempered with warmer touches. Genres are dipped in an out of, from the electro frigidity of “Electricity” to the trippy indie chants of “Trees.” The ground on which RVDS works is never stable, instead the It’s founder shifts and readjusts himself to flights of fancy and moods. The meatiest track is undeniably the floor jacking “Energy,” bending bars spliced with breathy vocals. But don’t think you’re in for more of the same, you are always at the ever changing will of the Golden Pudel Dj.
Shadows is not a standard electronic music album, although I’m not sure there really is a standard. Minimal moods, full bodied bangers and fragile soundscapes, this 3LP explores a wide spectrum with varying degrees of success. A journey into the the less explored side of the TB303.
Shadows is available on It’s.
