- There are countless people unhappy with the meaning that has became attached to minimal in the past few years. Not least Donnacha Costello, who recently shut down his Minimise label in an effort to distance himself from a genre that he never embodied anyway. But when Costello found himself with the sort of dance tracks that didn't quite fit on his new imprint, Look Long, I imagine he gritted his teeth a little bit and squeezed out what might just be the last release for the label. Maybe. If it doesn't happen again. (We'll see?)
The result is among Costello's finest work in the dance arena: "Miss Synclaviera" reflects the producer's infatuation with the titular piece of gear. Its aquatic melody wavers softly up and down, creating a sense of queasy calm via repetition, buoyed by a 4/4 stomp and the tiniest offbeat. My pick of the two, though, is "Tears of the Vampire" because I like a good cry every now and then. (Who doesn't?) Costello's rolls the beat rougher, but his melody is even sweeter, a melancholic dirge that rivals anything found on his early ambient albums. It might not be the optimal soundtrack for Tom Cruise biting into Kirsten Dunst's neck, but Wesley Snipes? Sure.
Tracklist1 Miss Synclaviera
2 Tears Of The Vampire