Elskavon - Fragments EP, Vol. 1 (Western Vinyl) [Electronic Music]
- The Slow Music Movement
- 10 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Elskavon is just one of the various monikers of Minneapolis-based musician Chris Bartels, most of which have found their way into TSMM's playlists and blog, and which focusses on more cinematic electronic meets ethereal post-rock vibes, but whatever hat he wears to the studio, he takes some serious quality with him.
Fragments lives up to its title. The project has its roots in his Origins album from three years ago - a seriously electronic, albeit twisted and instrumental in places, alt-pop release. As with so many artists, either out of curiosity or release strategy necessity, Bartels has already released a choice set of album remixes, but is keen to stress, and rightly so, that Fragments is not a remix record, nor a revisionist exercise, but an intentional breaking - which sounds quite painful, and sort of is.
Rather than take those hooks, motifs or grooves and treat them lightly, he's opted for deconstruction, distortion, erosion and reconstruction from the ground up - it's not for the faint of heart, and perhaps not even for lovers of the original album. The original vocal tracks weren't shiny in any form, but always friendly, the same, with an exception for "North Sole" - the album closer, can't be said for Origins Fragments. Parts are torn from their roots then twisted into unfamiliar, often uneasy new shapes; then sub-consciously, rather than painstakingly, sculpted into ambient-noise forms of varying intensity and impressive length, that ebb and flow through the speakers with quasi-classical grandeur and grace, especially "Blosson and the Void (Fragments)" - assisted by its recognisable strings.
Although the mini-album will undoubtedly appeal to chillier, darker, doomier ambient fans, don't be deterred if you are, like me, more of a lower-case ambient fan, there is beauty and serious craft in these shadows.
Playlist Companion
Find Elskavon in the Ambient Pop Playlist.