- As the title of this new EP suggests, Gardland are all about improvisation. But listening to last year's Syndrome Syndrome, their debut LP, you might not have known it. The Australian duo bucked all of the off-the-cuff hardware techno trends, crafting an album of impressive gloss, poise and concision. The duo's latest EP features three tracks snipped from the 2012 radio performance that first caught the ear of RVNG label head Matt Werth. But, while it may just be down to the live nature of the performance, this time around the duo sound much more rough around the edges.
Not that this is a bad thing, necessarily. These days there are ample examples of how a bit (or a lot) of distortion can spice up a dance track; "0315," in particular, redlines so hard you can hear the mix buckling with every kick. The track is apparently a prototype of "Katarakt," one of Syndrome Syndrome's iciest moments, but here the extra grot gives it a pleasing newfound urgency. Elsewhere the duo indulge their improvisatory side more fully. The 16-minute sprawl of "0214" follows a tried and true improv structure, with a cloud of sound at the opening slowly acquiring coherence and purpose. Its glacially slow development may test your patience, but when a weightier kick drum and some metallic chords eventually put us on firmer techno terrain, it feels like we've earned it. Fortunately, a B-side reprisal of the same track is much briefer. "0214 pt. 2" centres on layered chords so thick they almost saturate the mix. As elsewhere, the pungency of the thing nearly compensates for the resultant loss of sonic precision.
TracklistA1 0214
B1 0315
B2 0214 Pt. 2