- Last year, Aksel Schaufler, or Superpitcher, released an EP every month. Each one had two side-long tracks that ran for up to 20 minutes. These EPs, The Golden Ravedays, have been compiled into a boxset that runs just shy of six hours. You might wonder if Schaufler has lost the ability to self-edit. He's made conspicuously long tracks before, most notably "Time," his 2011 collaboration with Rebolledo as Pachanga Boys. But Schaufler says he always intended The Golden Ravedays to be a single entity—which could be a sign of outsized ambition, a formidable creative drive, or both.
Listening to the 24 tracks as a whole, one can hear how inspired he must have felt. The Golden Ravedays touches on synth pop, ambient, breakbeat, Balearic and plenty more—lots of it unclassifiable—including, of course, the sort of swooning, intimate house that has been his stock in trade. The majority of the album hits the mark—no small feat for a quarter of a day's worth of music.
Schaufler has a knack for soft-focus melancholy, and that extends to much of The Golden Ravedays. It's a muted romance that can be tremendously affecting in the right setting. The electric piano, organ and wistful lyrics—"Hey, little raver / do you remember?"—on "Little Raver" grab you from the start. The subdued grandeur of "Sleepy Head" evokes a stroll through a field of flowers on a beautiful morning, while the twangy guitars and windswept feel of "Tuesday Paris Texas" conjure up visions of wandering through a scrubland plain at sunset.
The album showcases a key attribute of Schaufler's: the patience to let a tune unfold slowly. The songs' spells are cast largely through repetition and leisurely evolution. The wistful four-chord organ warble of "1984" is charming enough on its own, but over time it produces a pleasantly drowsy feel. It might take a few minutes for the chirpy, synth pop bassline of "Andy" to worm into your synapses, but once it's there it stays with you. Even "Punky Reggae Party," through sheer persistence, becomes mesmerizing as Schaufler intones the title for the hundredth or so time.
Some tracks outstay their welcome. "Mirage," "Rock & Roll Baby" and "Resistance" end up wearing thin. And only a few people will listen to The Golden Ravedays in one go, which raises the question: does anyone other than a Superpitcher completist need to own the entire album? Probably not. At its best, though, the music is as impressive as the effort he's poured into it.
Tracklist01. Little Raver
02. Snow Blind
03. What Do You Miss?
04. Let's Play Doctor
05. 1984
06. Pocket Love
07. Blood & Berry
08. Howl
09. Bluesin
10. Burkina
11. Protest Song
12. Resistance
13. Andy
14. Yves
15. Tuesday Paris Texas
16. Mirage
17. Hiding
18. Flying
19. Rock & Roll Baby
20. Shining
21. Brothers
22. Sleepy Head
24. Late Night Skanking
25. Punky Reggae Party