- Back in the mid-'00s, Teo Schulte and Heiko Laux—a jazz man and a techno man—found a middle ground on a handful of releases on Laux's Kanzleramt label as Offshore Funk. For Suol, they've gone under their own names, and offered up weighty, organic sub 110 BPM house. "Suol Hug" is a sturdy platter of dragging bass guitar, kick and a handclap imaged in relief, on which various languid tones are served. There are synthetic washes, electric piano that sounds like it's being convulsed upon rather than played, and a squelch that flops around at its leisure. They happen to work with each other, despite being completely autonomous.
It all gives a Lynchian dazedness that's shared with "Sound Hug," but the open gaps between the parts on "Sound" are filled with fuzz and reverb. It's smoother and more driving. "Spill," meanwhile, has an incessant riff which dominates the mid and bass ranges. There's no kick in sight, as what sounds like Miles Davis playing electric guitar is stretched and distorted above. After a number of careful listens, I'm still not sure if it starts speeding up just as it's almost faded out. It's not like it really matters; by this point, any frame of reference is long gone anyway.
Daniel Bortz, who released an equally as drowsy EP on Suol earlier this year gives "Sound Hug" something of a half-hearted wind for his remix. It's driven mostly by rhythmic midrange tonality, but introduces a teasingly brief and syncopated bassline near the end. Till von Sein heads back into wider-bottomed territory, giving a slinky undercurrent to dazzled pads, an I'm-sure-I-know-what-he's-saying voice and the most complex rhythm on the EP.
Tracklist01. Suol Hug
02. Sound Hug
03. Sound Hug (Daniel Bortz Remix)
04. Suol Hug (Till von Sein Last Minute Doom Dub)
05. Spill