Random Circuits

The Per Eckbo Orchesta - “400 Thousand Miles From Home” EP - [Oslo] (buy)

The Per Eckbo Orchestra is a collaboration between Guillaume Coutu Dumont and Federico Molinari. Right from the word go you know it’s going to be something a bit special & it doesn’t disappoint. This collaboration is a match made in percussive heaven both Guillaume & Molinari have the vital ingredients alone, to produce some real good music. So when these two heavy weight house builders are combined the flavour of the dish they make is intensified and becomes highly addictive. If you enjoyed Guillaume’s last Oslo outing the Paraiso 91.90.70 EP,  your going to love this.

The EP starts with “Kodo Verano” this like many of Oslo releases focuses around a “tribalism” theme, expertly crafted percussion and tight drums. I don’t like using the word “tribal” too much but it’s the best way to describe this. It’s the sound that has been “The Sound” of 2008 think Johnny D, Mathias Kaden & labels such as Oslo & Cecille. ”Kodo Verano” reminds me a lot of “Mederico” & “Ocre” from last year with it’s loose beats and precision layering, building effortlesly each component to their own. There’s a definite process, starting with one component and finishing with about 6 or 7, all of which work together very well indeed. The two talented producers use different sets of drums, percussion and vocal samples, which is all well & good. It’s like there’s some sort of tribalism ritual going on which eventually gets so intense your waiting for the tribe to break free, jump out of your speakers and attack. My only qualm is this whole sound is started to get very repetitive a lot of labels doing the same. I wonder how long people will stay interested for & when the backclash will begin? They manage to cram a lot into a small space and it works. I’m not sure when or where you could drop this but either way it makes nice home listening.

Having said that about the A side i have nothing but praise for the B. “Beat Bravo” is much more on a dance floor friendly tip, think Reboot’s kind of sound much more deeper and more user friendly. Still on the same theme as “Kodo Verano” here the two combine their skills with great success. Taking you on a dance floor excursion through quality loose percussion, intense drums and a warm organ like piano riff all of which is backed up by vocal snippets through out. Having listened to this for a good few days you realise that this is really a stand out track and quite possibly Oslo’s biggest release to date. It all knits together perfectly and the finished article is a piece of pure dance floor fodder. It has a slight Villalobos feel to it with the intricate layering of the drums. Oslo seem to have found their niche but how long will it last? Personally, i do enjoy most of the music coming out of Oslo, but only in small doses, the same goes for Cecille. I know from experience i couldn’t put up with hours upon hours of the same kind of percussive vibes. Maybe Oslo should go for more of a mountain people look with their next release this would really rock the boat & be very interesting indeed.

 

Bookmark It