- Shlømo is Shaun Baron-Carvais, the fastest rising producer on Taapion Records. The Parisian techno crew haven't been around long but have easily established themselves as consistent purveyors of cold and celestial club cuts. Production-wise, what differentiates Shlømo from his collaborators is subtle: balancing feel and function, he has a finer sense of lifting techno tracks from mere emotion to something more epic. This makes Shlømo a good fit kick off Delsin's new Tome series. Its name (by definition: a large book) suggests something ancient and unearthed, and everything about In Absentia: Tome 1 plays this up effectively.
The EP doesn't have much variety, but each track's gentle play between soft atmosphere and submerged beats sets a stark mood. There's a cathedral-like grandness to "In Absentia," its idyllic choral harmonies creating a pristine high ceiling above the stammering kicks. "Escape From The Void" is less atmospheric and more hard-pressed techno, while "Poison River" treads between the textures of the first two. Its hard tumble is slowly swept into a dark mist, shot through with distant chords, heady ripples and moments of light. On "Escape From The Poison River (Artefakt Collage)," the Dutch duo combine those two tracks to create something more austere, but the spaciousness of the rest of this record is what makes it enticing.
TracklistA1 In Absentia (feat PVNV)
A2 Escape From The Void
B1 Poison River
B2 Escape From The Poison river (Artefakt Collage)