- When it comes to IDM, Uwe Zahn sits near the top of the heap. He doesn't always get the credit he deserves, and his nearly decade-long break probably didn't help (there were no Arovane records between 2004's Lilies and 2013's Ve Palor). Unveiling a kinetic and knotty sound, Ve Palor still had some of the gorgeous glacial drift of his classic material, which vanishes almost entirely on Aarlenpeers. This is Zahn's debut for Andrea Parker's Touchin Bass, a label that tends to release breaks and electro, and he's given them two of his hardest tracks.
With its spring-loaded drums, "Arleenpeers" immediately brings to mind Oversteps-era Autechre. Trying to grasp the rhythm is basically impossible, and the melodies feel random. They're clear, bright and jerky—think someone accidentally striking a Casio keyboard—and eventually they fight past the web of percussion, a passage that recalls the placid Tides (Zahn's best album). "Il_Eth" is even more chaotic, with a wall of sound that no chords could hope to break through. Convoluted and unforgiving, Aarlenpeers is the most challenging Arovane material yet. It could prove either tiresome or mind-bending depending on your taste for fiddly IDM.
Tracklist01. Aarlenpeers
02. Il_Eth