2017 proved to be a good year for the electronic music world, from my point of view. With the revival of the old school electro, with acid, industrial and afrobeat still hot and EBM growing stronger, 2017 was a very interesting year music-wise.
Regarding the Romanian producers, things are also moving in a good direction. There are no new faces to the game, but the ones already there are leaving their mark and their music heard more and more.
It has been 4 years since I made the last ‘review of the year …’ or ‘best of … ‘ list and it was not planned for 2017, but looking back at last year somehow the music scene shifted in a good way. From the music point of view, I think we are living better times now, we can see a revival of the old school electro and acid house, afrobeat is still hot, EBM is going strong.
Petre Inspirescu delivers ‘Vîntul Prin Salcii’ – another longplayer enlarged with seven, up to epic twelve minutes long arrangements. They all listen to the name ‘Miroslav’ and only differ numerically in their title. You can call them ambient. You can call them minimal music in the sense of classic compositions by Steve Reich or Terry Riley. They groove – sometimes more, sometimes less. and they spread the sounds of flutes or saxophones, delicate piano figures, organic jazz drumming, arpeggiated analogue synth-lines, mesmerizing strings, choral singing, alienated looped vocals and spaced out new aged spheres. What unites them all is the way, the melodies dance upon and in each single tune. Their beautiful tex-tures ensnare and they are continuously engaged with experimentation. A mystical album full of evolutionary music to which each listener is able to paint his very own emotional picture. Moody, dark and at the same time light-flooded shape-shifting compositions – made for those who love to surrender them-selves to a gentle dance between experimentation and attractiveness.
Romanian minimal techno hero Petre Inspirescu releases a solo album on Japan’s Mule Musiq and what a moment in a brilliant career thus far. This guy is a true innovator and many are curious to hear what kind of journey into the deep and bizarre he can take us on. Starting out with the exotic bongo meditation of “Delir 1” and the breathtaking immersive ambience of “Delir 2” or the sinister and unsettling “Lumiere” things start to develop more movement later. Such as: on the deep hypnotic vibes of “Delir 4” or “Delir 6” which feature sombre string arrangements, emotive piano passages and some of the most expressive and restrained drums and percussion performances. All nine suspenseful compositions seduce with a deep melodic sensibility, harmonic adventures and an overall rhythmic ambiance of freshness and laidback enthusiasm. Together they represent a challenging auditory experience that will resonate in your mind long after the music has finished.
The Romanian Petre Inspirescu has exclusively used his own unreleased productions for fabric 68 makes. Petre’s recent and newfound love and appreciation of classical music permeates the deep structures and rhythms of fabric 68. Everything about the music that makes up the mix is long and liquid, silky and sinewy, with myriad different bass, instrumental and percussive threads wobbling and scurrying their way along.
“I recorded the mix at home and arranged only from my own productions, as I wanted to try to offer a more classical touch to the music I make for the dancefloor and to present it to people. Some of the songs were recorded more than one year ago, maybe two, and some recently. The songs include recordings with a trio (violin, cello, piano) in my studio, other instruments, voice (soprano) and modular sounds.”
Initials imprint delivers its second release this spring, Jay Blissʼ ʻThe Art of Doing Nothingʼ backed with a remix from Petre Inspirescu. In both original tracks Jay Bliss relies on little else than careful manipulation of structure and sound to create captivating fare. Lead track ʻDoing Nothingʼ revolves around a lumpy, satisfying groove and a three note hit while Jay Bliss teases out every detail to just before breaking point while ʻXʼ takes a deeper, more immersive route. Petre Inspirescu delivers a typically dense, rhythmic interpretation of ʻXʼ which clocks in at just over 14 minutes and rallies around padding kicks, sonic oddities and a ever-evolving percussion. Incredibly bass heavy, itʼs a version that gives an intense, sub-aquatic view of the original.
The 6th edition of Rokolectiv festival for electronic music and related arts is set to take place between 14th and 17th of April in Bucharest’s MNAC (National Museum of Contemporary Art) with concerts, performances, installations and film screenings. This year’s music program is sure to haunt both good and bad dreams, with a schizoid line up going from pure fun-driven beats to fuzzy dark performances.
Yojik-ConCon is a new Romanian label inducing a contemporary concept of music making which works against current stylistic conventions. Crossing limits and voiding thresholds between strict musical principles, the label’s owner Petre Inspirescu intends to contemplate innovative experimentation upon sound’s mood and motion.Electronic merges with other genres through subtlety and simplicity, allowing the music to inhabit variety of implementations, despite dance. His first release under a new name ‘Tt Ensemble’, introduces his new project and invites to reevaluate the contemporary musical attributes.
