- The rising German artist shows why he's got the Discogs sharks in a frenzy.
- The quality of a piece of music should not be ascertained by the price it sold for on Discogs. Still, if I told you that someone loved Ludwig A.F. Röhrscheid's recent Velocity EP so much they paid $130 for it, you'd have to assume it was pretty good, right? And yes, it is pretty good, especially the title track. It has a sort of exaggerated version of the wistful melodic moods so many people liked about Giegling before the label imploded. Velocity was Röhrscheid's first release on his Exo Recordings International label, where he's since released two more EPs, along with Xhale for Unknown To The Unknown. The Frankfurt-based artist seems to have a particular penchant for dreamy '90s moods, but the range of styles this includes—IDM, breakbeat, jungle, techno, house—has been ear-catching. He also seems fond of early trance and progressive house, which is where we find him at the beginning of Blissful Lie.
There's actually a slamming old-school breakbeat underpinning "Blissful Lie," another angle that makes it feel very now, but everything else here is pure melodic indulgence. Röhrscheid takes the cavalier step of executing a long breakdown just 45 seconds into the track—perhaps all the better for showing off his dazzling synthesizer lines. By the time the Faithless-style synth shows up after the drop it will have become a bit too much for some; there'll be plenty others, though, who'll be losing their shit. The EP then pivots towards melody-rich IDM. It feels strange to use "itchy" and "charming" in the same sentence, but that describes "Psychiflux." "Weightless" folds in some Aphex acid, while "Cloud Walker" only comes gently to life after a couple minutes of daybreak ambience. Outside of the obviously anthemic club track here, this is probably the style that suits Röhrscheid the best.
TracklistA1 Blissful Lie
A2 Weightless
B1 Psychiflux
B2 Cloud Walker