Shazbut!, Tekniq’s new record for Hive Records, is a disc of summer melancholia, an idyllic snapshot of a lazy afternoon just prior to the advent of a brisk thunderstorm. The air becomes electric as tiny glitches rise on the horizon, and the breeze preceding the weather carries on it the scent of wildflowers and water. The forecast is: ambient pastoralism with just a touch of scattered glitchcore.
There is a breath of Boards of Canada here, a wisp of their happytronica percolating beneath tracks like “Airport” and “Applesauce.” It is difficult to capture wistful naiveté without an undercurrent of cynicism and yet Tekniq manages to not only express it overtly in a few songs, but instills most of the record with this underlying sonic tint of unrestrained innocence. “Near Perfect” squelches with a bit of electronic chaos (just a bit though) while ambient tones glissando across the sky and a casual acoustic guitar tries to transport us to Barcelona. “Dream” announces itself with a Gregorian choir and holds that note for a minute until a small choir of tiny sopranos whisper in the quiet nave of the church. A warm synth melody picks up the mood, the dream turning and drifting lazily as if it were a leaf on a wide, sluggish river. “Dream Again” floats those voices past us once more, a breath of the angelic choir before the ghost of the glitch and a grand piano engage in a maudlin stroll into a purple sunset.
In “Very Untitled” and “Saint,” Tekniq brings in a bit of turntablism, a hopping scratch which injects a little DJ Shadow into this idyllic ambience. The melancholia lessens as if the children of the other tracks have now begun to play, dancing and laughing about the May pole with garlands of flowers in their hair.
Shazbut! is a surprisingly delightful record, filled with a glow of unadulterated innocence and breathless ambience. However, there are enough glitch elements and chaotic beat structures littering the way that old cynics like myself can unabashedly enjoy themselves without having to let go of our perpetual prickliness. Do we know each other well enough that I can say this record will make it little easier for you to find a smile? Ah, maybe not. But it works really well for me.
Shazbut! is out now on Hive Records.
- Hive Records Website
- Tekniq Website
- Review of Tekniq’s Compuglobalhypermeganet
