- Hidden Hawaii, the label run by the German producers Felix K and Wan.2, puts out a lot of interesting music, much of it by mysterious artists bending the rules of rhythm and style. But perhaps the most intriguing part of its catalog is the Gilga series, a string of numbered 12-inches that have appeared once every year since 2013. Each comes marked only by a cryptic symbol, cut out of a black stencil, reminiscent of the Decepticon logo from Transformers. There is no visible text: the title and artist are noted on a business card inside a small black envelope. The first edition came from Legowelt, and is considered by some to be among his best records. The rest have come from less familiar names. There was Arrrgh°, an otherwise unknown artist from Bulgaria, and two of Felix K's projects, Parlament Der Fische and Crackle Wizard. Gilga 5 comes from Myself 69, an artist about whom nothing is known, but whose dark, syncopated rhythms feel very much at home here.
Gilga V pairs hip-hop beats with shadowy atmospheres in a way that recalls illbient artists like DJ Spooky, though its roots feel more Artificial Intelligence than Mo Wax's Headz. Its seven tracks are mostly short sketches. "Premillennialism," the rain-slicked opener, clocks in at seven minutes; the rest are half as long. The samples are moody and autumnal—fuzzy pianos on "Ghosn Run," crooked violins on "Oude Ou," shoegazey guitars on the beatless "Gilga 400." Other tracks are harder to parse. "CE 96/PPE Wolve" and "Naima Jam," the final two, are smoky, half-ambient groovers that seem to lurk from deep in the subconscious. These are the record's strangest tracks, and, perhaps not coincidentally, its best.
TracklistA1 Premillennialism
A2 Ghosn Run
A3 Gilga 400
B1 Hi, Waves
B2 Oude Ou
B3 CE 96/PPE Wolve
B4 Naima Jam