- Roman Flügel is a veteran who's weathered many a passing genre tide. His EP for Running Back seems to be a potted history of his experience with several. Its ranges from minimal to disco house, from East Coast garage to glitchy tribal, but also from well-executed to uninspiring.
With an artist as diverse and accomplished as Flügel, even when the latter is true, there's still plenty to admire in terms of the bare production. The sounds on "La Paloma," when broken down individually, are alluring: the recurring ping has a lighthouse effect, tiny bubbles ascend from the bass and the muted guitar strumming is a subtle funk caress. But combined, these micro-elements spend ten minutes tiptoeing around one another along a horizontal path devoid of dynamism. "Sa Caleta" doesn't suffer from this problem, loopy though it may be. Percussion is added and taken away in an ebb-and-flow movement. The funk snippet assumes a cut-up life of its own and Flügel's slow-motion feels faster as a result.
The dance floor ardour is furthered by a jacking pensiveness in the snare triplets and doleful chords of "Lucy." Like a concurrent dose of uppers and downers, it's an interesting prospect for body and mind. The digital-only DJ tool "Sa Caleta Beat" doesn't seem to bear any resemblance to its namesake and makes a return to the unfunky placidity of "Paloma," though, as with that track, an inconsistency for Flügel is at the very least a worthwhile study in sound.
Tracklist A La Paloma
A2 Sa Caleta
B1 Lucy
B2 Sa Caleta Beat