- Techno's Mr. Consistent returns.
- In 2013, the Ukranian techno artist Stanislav Tolkachev released Simple As A Miracle, his first record for Semantica, on which he explored a tough, twisted, minimalist, synth-led sound. Many of his records before then had their basis in this style—ditto most of his records since. Be Careful And Nobody Dies sees him return to Semantica, following the reissue last year of the Right Angle EP. Once again, the EP is tough, twisted, minimalist and synth-led. But here's the curious thing: it still sounds super fresh. So what is it about Tolkachev's sound that keeps it from becoming stale?
The strength of his synths is surely a massive part of it. There's barely a few seconds here where Tolkachev doesn't have some rich, rippling synthesizer shaping the stereo field. Two of the tracks—"Farewell" and "Emptyness"—don't even need beats to generate a powerful sense of forward momentum. Tolkachev is also drawn discordance and polyrhythms, and although we get relatively little of that here, "Manhunt" is a fine example. You'll want to stay alert to the moment at 01:15 where he fires up a piston-like hi-hat, ricocheting off the synth in a way that's equal parts confusing and thrilling. The record's most straightforward track might be its best, though. "Everything Ends" sounds like it could have been made on a four-track recorder. But when your synths sound this dazzling, what else is needed?
TracklistA1 Farewell
A2 Be Careful & Nobody Dies
A3 Manhunt
B1 Everything Ends
B2 Emptyness