Brussels-based rhythm nationalist Graham Peel aka Paradise 100 returns to the recorded realm after 20-plus months off the grid with a four track EP of “micro fugues” designed to evoke a sense of “hazy ecstatic awe.” That’s one way of putting it. Like his last SILK outing, 2013’s The Loin King, Peel’s pieces pulse with tactical patience, carefully Jenga-piling synths, drum programming, and samples (voice, xylophone, etc) into fluid, curvilinear forms spiked with off-sync hooks, stark breakdowns, and filtered acid bass. Northern Seoul spans a quadrant of moods, from sunblind jack to dusk terrace to shattered glass piña colada, “when we wander around a foreign place for the first time.” Second time’s a charm, apparently. Subtle Seoul-searching by a craftsman out of the lights and off on his own. Pro-dubbed tapes in label J-cards. Mastered by Eric Hanson.
MC $6.75
08/14/2015
MP3 $3.96
08/14/2015
FLAC $4.99
08/14/2015
Scotland-born Parisian Paradise 100 (a.k.a. DJ Africa, a.k.a. Graham Peel) has been percolating stripped-back, bouncy-castle house constructs onto the web for a few years but never locked them in wax until now. High time. Following his minimalist dictum “more than three tracks on a song is just indulgence,” his debut EP’s four cuts share a sleek, spare design, jigsawing slinky bass, classic keys, lean drum programming and flashes of synth mirage into fluid, aerodynamic patterns. Touches of melodic acid and crossover new wave color the mood an exotic, hedonistic hue (further evinced by titles like “The Loin King” and “French Kissing in the House of Love”). His own vision of the project is appropriately fantastical: “The image in my mind is of tropical forests at night, torchlight, distant sounds of tribal ritual dance and ghosts.” Regal music for pleasure domes.
12" $12.00
11/19/2013
MP3 $3.96
10/01/2013