Petter - Six Songs EP

  • Published
    Jun 6, 2004
  • Words
    Resident Advisor
  • Released
    7 June 2004
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  • So young, yet so talented; Peter Nordkvist, the bed roomer turned superhero sees his first EP along side good friend James Holden and his influential label, Border Community. Already entering glory with his first released track, “These Days” has become something of a legend already. Coming out of nowhere, Petter’s sound foreshadowed what would become the next stage of ‘progressive’ music. Something new, yet close to home, his music is reflective, but still looks onward to the road ahead. When you hear it, you can remember all the good times and while escaping the bad ones. Such an emotional piece, Sasha has even taken it and re-envisioned it for his “Involver” experiment. After hearing glimpses of two tracks from Holden’s “Balance 005” and a few selected remixes for other artist, it’s about time we all finally get to hear a collection that will define Petter: The Artist with this mini album entitled Six Song EP. 1st Song: All Together starts this extended player and the intro sounds like its farting. No seriously, I’m hearing fart noises for a low bass drum. As I listen clueless, a deep bassline begins to kick in. Soon enough, hypnotic violin stabs breach in, progressing the track, making the piece sound really cool, scary at times, but smooth too. Something I didn’t feel too much is the robotic vocal. I may be a bit partial (as I usually dislike the artificial sounds it creates), but I feel that it gives the track a cheesy sound. Not that I would do away with the vocal lines, but robot vocals saying “Hi,” “All Together” just sounds out dated. Luckily, with it’s sonic sound waves of strings working like a mini-symphony, I can disregard what I didn’t like with what I believe does (and it does very well). The track also has a breakdown that doesn’t breakdown, but carries on, building for the real peak. The development of the track works well, simmering for the final blow. It’s quirky, yet dark and I do like it. 2nd Song: A little breakbeat going on in the beginning with sounds of leftfield, using dub as the backdrop gives this oddball a ‘Left Turned’ from the normal electronic sounds you’ll usual hear. Strange sounds overall, as I can’t really describe it: I’ll try, as it’s something like a warped out record playing in space – yea, that’s it. That’s how the track is. Lots of random drum patterns, broken cyhms, and weird noises growing inside it. 3rd Song: Dica Drive is the most simple of the six tracks. A solid upbeat 4/4 hanging with a low echo works nicely. Soon enough, added cyhms comes in and the 4/4 beat expands larger, giving it more force. The rattling noises make me feel wobbly for a bit. Certainly what I wasn’t expecting when listening to the track. The melody is unusual. Just that single bell hitting in and out makes me feel disjointed. It’s crazy without trying to be crazy. The track is simple, there’s not much too it, yet you’ll find that the time has flown by. 4th Song: Modern Eternity is easily the most dance friendly track out of the EP. A techy synth starts it out with a female vocal and Asian-inspired vibes in the melody give this a warm feeling. My favorite, and it will certainly be for a lot of djs out there as well. Lovely melody gets to shine without overtaking the track. At the end, it turns into Electro House. If Petter ever thinks about doing an Electro Remix, it’ll sound pretty sweet. 5th Song: Tone Diary reminds me of the ol’ Northern Exposure CD that Sasha and John did back in the day. Soothing breakbeat over lush chords; it just sounds so lovely. The entire track is carefully sequenced meticulously. Certainly one of the highlights of this EP as this track alone is worth the cover charge. As the ambient vibes starts here, don’t expect it to end so quickly because… Ender – 6th Song: My Pretty Guitar is the final track that clams the rest of the EP down. Ambient music. A juxtaposition of ambient soundscapes being overlapped by crashing distortion creates a vibe like no other. Lost in translating the notes, you strangely begin to feel at peace. A montage that creates a feeling of reflection as the weight of the final song continues on. An EP of six songs that range from Tech-to-Leftfield, Ambient-to-Progressive. The wide range of different sounds fits so right. I always believe that presentation is everything as you only get a first impression once. This mini album certainly feels like an extension from his first release as it continues the journey of electronic music. These days you’ll rarely see EP’s from the progressive community, but when you do, your always smiling. A1: All Together B1: Left Turned B2: Dica Drive C1: Modern Eternity D1: Tone Diary D2: My Pretty Guitar
RA