- Classic IDM and acid vibes from a producer you should get to know.
- Human Remains is something of an odds-and-sods collection, with tracks dating from 2016, but you'd never know by listening to it. In fact, the EP makes for a savvy introduction to Rolando Simmons, AKA Mattias Östling—something of an acid-IDM savant who has been quietly making brilliant tunes for over a decade. A few seconds into the opener (the CV Beszállás edit of "Human Touch") and you should know what you're in for: a sputtering beat, vaguely weepy synths and the rarefied air of a '90s Rephlex Records release. Somewhere between propulsive and melancholy, Östling's beats are lush but fidgety, continuing a tradition started in the '90s that flourished on forums like WATMM and Dogs On Acid. In other words: this is fantastically nerdy, undeniably beautiful stuff, embedding great melodies into knotty percussive patterns and strange tunings.
You can find lots of antecedents for Östling's approach here—the frantic, trigger-happy snare roll groove of "Elenaya Bay" is straight out of AFX's Analords—but it's better to take the music at face value than focus on similarities to artists like Aleksi Perälä. The best thing that Östling brings to the table is a keen balance of rhythm and float, like on "Org Vibris (Corso Edit)," where a would-be anthemic melody is weighed down by sighing melancholy, before a sudden adrenaline-fueled techno section. "Slipgate" buries Detroit electro shakers and acid leads in a leaden techno structure, while "Grown-Up Talk" features the kind of elongated, almost verbal basslines made famous by Tin Man, only embellished and built into something more Warp-ish. And the detuned bells of "Duelling Parrots" are like comfort food for a certain kind of electronic music fan, playing out a gorgeously alien melody that takes some real chutzpah to pull off. Östling is one of those artists who works in a specific continuum but adds his own touch here and there—and when it comes to reverb-drenched, acid-lashed, wound-up IDM pitter-patter, not many can do it as well, or as elegantly, as this.
Tracklist01. Human Touch (CV Beszállás Edit)
02. Org Vibris (Corso Edit)
03. Duelling Parrots
04. Slipgate
05. Grown-Up Talk
06. Nueva Traditional
07. Elanaya Bay
08. Warming Up