Hydatid - Awash With Even
CD from Half/theory (HALF01)
Buy Now $13.00 from hydatid
1. Approach
2. Hellas Planitia
3. Waiting Weightless
4. See Earth's Reflection
5. Offline a
6. Awash With Even
7. Leaving
8. Negative Space
9. Offline b
10. Hellas Sea
11. Au Precipitate
12. The Eclipse is Widening
Perhaps a little older and wiser than many currently cluttering our collective ears with pointless rhythmic complexity and inane attempts at accessing nostalgia, Hydatid's work sidesteps the childish games of the 'electronica' playground, presenting a more mature take on electronic music, mindful of the strengths and weaknesses of both recent and previous practitioners.
Never falling into the twin traps of clichéd shorthand (bouncing ball effects, music box melodies) and gear slavery, Awash With Even is a soundtrack for the quieter moments of life, snatched from the everyday business of existence. Music for cloud gazing, mornings after nights before and scented baths with loved ones, for appreciating small things and simple pleasures, rather than wallowing in self absorbed melancholy and false nostalgia. Rhythms and melodies emerge and grow slowly, chemistry set crystals observed in time lapse. Things turn about themselves gradually, threatening to fray and collapse, flickering like midafternoon shadows on the wall.
The benefit of not only knowing, but more importantly, understanding one's shit (production skills) is clearly on display here, as the spaciousness and economy of composition of earlier generations of electronic music (early detroit, early warp) and the fluidity of structure and sound palate available to users of current technology meet, without ever losing sight of musicality. Like a fine wine, this album has been made to age well, and will still be visiting insides of CD players long after they are reduced to fetish items of retro chic, much as turntables have become today.
For those who care about such things, the production on the release is close to impeccable, sounds are all clear, bass is phatt and high end is crisp. For those who don't, the musicality of the release is also close to impeccable, with structure and looseness balanced perfectly, great sounds and a confidence with melodic and harmonic content seen all too rarely in electronic music.
Reviews
Rave Magazine
Hydatid is the musical guise of Brisbane sound artist David Loose. His electronic manipulations of field recordings coalesce beautifully in these twelve ambient, strangely moving tracks. Hellas Planitia, for instance, is a multi-layered piece of shimmering electronic textures, deliberate digital distortion and a wobbly undercarriage of wonky beats, while the rushing water sounds and hypnotic drones of See Earth's Reflection are powerfully trance-inducing. While Loose sometimes presents a more abrasive soundscape, such as the scratchy beats and off-kilter layers of Negative Space, on the whole this is soothing but wildly inventive electronic music to bliss out to. - Brett Collingwood
Time Off
As Hydatid, David Loose creates an intoxicating blend of hypnotic rhythms, dream-like arrangements and splintered melody. This, his debut long-player, follows a stream of well produced demo CDs each of which carried the promise of a powerful debut and Loose keeps good on his word with a seriously well rounded listening experience. 'Waiting Weightless' drifts eerily, its intentions clouded as warm vocals are abstracted into a glowing texture, while a synth sizzles back and forth across what seems like a broken-breakbeat. 'Awash With Even' continues this feeling of unsettling calm, with the rhythm this time taking on slightly more weighty qualities, helped along by some delayed melodies lines and a gentle push of bass. From start to finish this album carries an unusually attractive tonal quality to it ? spacious and welcoming, it hides a darker underbelly. - Lawrence English