- Ikpathua's second release for Noorden, Oboo, consolidates the variety of the first. On the eight-track cassette Tape Paranoia, released by the Cologne label two years ago, dub techno collages mingled like acquaintances meeting in the street—pleasantly, but not entirely at ease. Oboo's components—dub techno and UK club signatures—feel more natural together. Ikpathua's broken rhythms help enlarge the space that his busy textures occupy. On "Unseen," a two-step track featuring Paterson, the music's cavernous interior is illuminated by generous echo effects.
"Oboo," on the other hand, is ripe with good ideas competing for space. Wispy strings, doughy kicks, drum fills, ping-pong arps and bassy synth aches—all sodden with reverb—clump together in a sticky-sweet goo. Two remixes of "Oboo," by Machine Woman, drain its excess fluid. The first uses a pitched-down syllable as a rhythmic accent, around which off-beat drums skip. In place of harmony, unruly digital scrunches writhe over the top. The second remix, an ambient drift subtitled "Machine Woman Art Rework," plants "Oboo"'s rasping synths in a dryer atmosphere. "Unseen" and the muddy dub techno of "Forest Echoes" summon rich sounds from sparse material, but Machine Woman's subtractions bring out the best in Oboo.
TracklistA1 Oboo
A2 Oboo (Machine Woman Remix)
A3 Oboo (Machine Woman Art Rework)
B1 Unseen feat. Paterson
B2 Forest Echoes