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Kilchhofer - The Book Room

    • Label /
      Marionette
      MARIONETTE07
    • Released /
      March 2018
    • Style /
      Electronica
    • Comments /
      5 / View
    • Rating /
      3.9/5
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    Kilchhofer - The Book Room Kilchhofer - The Book Room
    Kilchhofer - The Book Room The Book Room is "a fairytale, an imaginary place shaped by exotic cultures." It's also a musical diary: a collection of 20 tracks that the Swiss producer Benjamin Kilchhofer has called a "library of emotions." The two mean different things. One is an encounter with an "other," an escape into unknown or invented worlds, calling to mind other recent worldbuilding efforts by the likes of RAMZi, Don't DJ and Andrew Pekler. The other is an encounter with the self, drawing on a longer (and currently less cool) tradition of introspective bedroom electronica.

    Kilchhofer's debut album is caught intriguingly between the two. On the one hand it's a kind of "environmental music," a humid, birdsong-drenched exotica full of fluid hand drums and kalimba-like arpeggios. Some tracks, like "Karon" and "Vran," could be Alan Lomax-style field recordings of alien folk music. On the other hand it's sepia toned and melancholic. "Nihic" is hissy and heavy with nostalgia. The twinkling "Uhta" could almost be by '00s folktronica duo The Books.

    The music mostly has both qualities at once, which is what makes it distinctive. If you're accustomed to Fourth World reboots then you'll find The Book Room unusually pretty, and prone to drifting into gentle ambient. (Gorgeous miniatures like "Anzu," "Chogal" and "Tusk" could loop on way longer than they do.) In the electronica stakes, meanwhile, Kilchhofer's deft modular synth arrangements, with their physically modelled sounds, give the music a vivid contemporary flavour. The album's best tracks are full of lilting rhythm and clever melody, building effectively on the sound of his previous EPs. "Varen" and "Lubbari" are particularly great, as is "Hedha," with its flickering lead lines.

    These are highlights on an album that, over 20 tracks and 74 minutes, can otherwise be difficult to navigate. Kilchhofer's last solo release, the Dersu EP, also felt pretty weighty for what it was. Again, the length could serve deeper immersion in a parallel world, or it could reflect twists and turns in Kilchhofer's emotional state. The disorientation also heightens the album's occasional curveballs, like the hippy drone-outs of "Leng" and "Topot," where Kilchhofer's sweet world takes on a darker acid-fried dimension.
    • Published /
      Mon / 19 Mar 2018
    • Words /
      Angus Finlayson
    • Share
    • Tracklist /
      01. Anzu
      02. Varen
      03. Leng
      04. Chogal
      05. Trift
      06. Hedha
      07. Plyn
      08. Wiwanni
      09. Nihic
      10. Lubbari
      11. Topot
      12. Karon
      13. Wron
      14. Durhi
      15. Skimo
      16. Uhta
      17. Grima
      18. Thorron
      19. Vran
      20. Tusk
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  • More on Kilchhofer

    • Kilchhofer
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    News

    • Tue, 30 Jan 2018

      5 comments

      Kilchhofer to release debut album, The Book Room, on Marionette

      The double-LP is out in February.

    • Wed, 15 Mar 2017

      3 comments

      Marionette announces Burnt Friedman EP, readies Little Mary series

      The adventurous label's release plans also include efforts from Max Loderbauer along with Kilchhofer and Hainbach.

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