Description
Kobosil debuted on Ostgut Ton early last year with a remix of Barker & Baumecker’s “Silo.” From there the Berlin producer found a home among the label’s extended family, releasing an EP on its sub-label, Unterton. His latest, for Marcel Dettmann’s label, suggests the association will continue for a while yet, and listening to his music it’s easy to see why.
“Ein”‘s groove periodically drops a kick drum, slipping into a loping steppers’ feel; it’s an intriguing device that is sadly underexplored. Closer “There” is a pleasing, if not exactly wild, bit of sewer-system ambience. Elsewhere the deviations are more subtle. The roomy, hiss-laden percussion on “Asle” means that, instead of evoking vast warehouse spaces, there’s a certain low-ceilinged claustrophobia to it. In “V762 Cas” the kick is sunk low beneath the hi-hat and synths, lending it a patient, brooding sort of menace. On “Path” Kobosil indulges more conventionally thunderous urges, too. And “Oath”‘s squelchy synth lines are almost cartoonishly sinister, but not melodramatic enough to convince us that their creator sees the funny side. But even in its weaker moments, MDR010 displays a refreshing clarity and directness.
