- The Bunker continue their run of strange and alluring twelves with the first EP from Brooklyn synth act FORMA. Across a pair of albums for Spectrum Spools, the trio has kept a kosmische-style rhythmic motor running beneath their glistening synth chassis. But following a personnel change (Sophie Lam left and was replaced by John Also Bennett), they now seem to be gunning directly for the dance floor. In the case of these two techno epics, the change involves remarkably few tweaks to their basic MO. The expansive arp work, executed with a concision and clarity lacking in other parts of the US synth underground, remains. All that's different are the drums, which might make the whole thing sound a bit half-assed, until you hear the results.
"Cool Haptics" acquires a kick in the first 40 seconds, and it throbs for the duration. There's a snare in there, too—it makes its entry somewhere after the four-minute mark—and some other percussive filigree ducking in and out. But these elements are kept low in the mix, in order to create as much space as possible for the main protagonists. Glimmering Detroit pads float by, aqueous melodies coil gracefully in the middle distance. "Cloud Pillar" takes much the same approach, though its crisp, pear drop patterns lend it a welcome playful edge. For 15 minutes we gracefully lift and subside, lift and subside—and that's about it. The result is the techno equivalent of driving along a picturesque coastline: the view is constantly changing, but it's just as beautiful every time you look.
TracklistA1 Cool Haptics
B1 Cloud Pillar