Wednesday 9 April 2014

Dauwd - Kindlinn EP


I was lucky enough to see Dauwd support Bonobo (all hail) on his North Borders tour last October in Leeds, and it was probably one of the best sets I saw all year. In fact, I came away that night about as excited about Dauwd as I was about Bonobo. The EP he released last year, Heat Division, was beautifully crafted from a mosaic of warm synths, effervescent beats and lovingly treated vocal samples, so I expected a lot from Kindlinn, which was released on trusty German imprint Kompakt this monday. 

While I probably wouldn't rate it over his previous work, I can't say I was disappointed. Having ditched the choppy vocal samples for synth flourishes and a heavy, solid metre, Dauwd's sound seems to be evolving in line with the steadily flourishing techno scene propagated in cities such as Berlin and Detroit. While this mechanised, pounding beat, particularly evident in the EP's title track, makes for deeply atmospheric listening, it also loses (in my opinion) some of the interest that comes with the light, bubbling complexity of some of my favourite Dauwd tracks, such as 'Ikopol', 'And' or 'Aqueous'

You can stream the entire EP below, but if you like it then make sure you buy it on Beatport here.

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