- Arts and events outfit Arboretum has been active in Berlin since 2012, and now the three-man crew is starting a new label of the same name. Its first release, Vasundhara, comes from one of those members, Drøp, and features a remix from fellow Berlin-based Italians Dadub, who also took care of the mastering. As the track titles suggest, the EP has an esoteric theme. Coarse, cerebral electronics and battered, slowly heaving drums are the norm for the three original tracks on wax, and in sequence, they grow steadily more intense. But their lengths, around five or six minutes each, together with lots of gradual builds, ensure they don't become too exhausting.
"Epileptic Heritage" is a reserved but foreboding opener, its little bunches of kicks placed only at the front of each measure, before "Erratic Rituals," with 3/4 drums swaying to and fro, piles on thick metallic drones. Then there's "Vasundhara," which patiently turns into the fiercest thing on the record. Drøp's percussion is at its most forceful, tumbling like huge boulders, while razor-sharp textures fill up nearly every other nook and cranny. Dadub's remix of "Epileptic Heritage" is filled to the brim with the duo's dense percussion, making for a DJ-ready cut of highly detailed, broken-beat techno. Lastly, there's the digital-only track "Death Of Apasmara," a queasy soundscape that leads into (and out of) loops of modulated, arrhythmic noise. This EP isn't easy, but that's clearly the point. It's a fine first entry for artist and label.
TracklistA1 Epileptic Heritage
A2 Erratic Rituals
B1 Vasundhara
B2 Epileptic Heritage (Dadub Remix)