Hirsute German producer Oskar Offermann has unveiled his sophomore album, ‘Le Grand To Do‘, three years after the release of his maiden long-player, ‘Do Pilots Still Dream of Flying?‘. While Offermann’s excellent debut album was released on his own WHITE Records imprint, ‘Le Grand To Do’ arrives on Toshiya Kawasaki’s label Mule Musiq. The renowned Tokyo-based electronic music stable is a fitting second home for Offermann’s immersive productions.
As track titles such as ‘I Wonder’ or ‘Find Yourself’ suggest, Le Grand To Do is not designed solely for the dancefloor and explores more meditative moods. However some of the album’s standout moments will pique the attention of DJs. ‘Carol’s Howl’ is one such track. Following on from the 70-second mood-setting opener ‘August ‘14’ and the atmospheric brew of subtle melodies and distorted vocals that is ‘Find Yourself’, ‘Carol’s Howl’ is a pulsing, jacking cut that showcases up-tempo Oskar in full flight. ‘Banunanas’ is another of the album’s more vivacious offerings. Combining a heavy beat, droning bass, distorted vocal snippets and a stirring saxophone, ‘Banunanas’ is arguably the most immediately engaging track on Le Grand To Do – and definitely the most fun of the album’s track titles to say aloud.
One of the strengths of Le Grand To Do is its coherence and consistency, with the quality of the album’s second half matching its first. ‘Embrace The Condition’ melds a broken beat with understated harmonies that segue into sonorous synthesisers. Like so many of Offermann’s productions, details continue to reveal themselves and intricacies surface each time the track is played. ‘Stormy Past’ Doors’ eschews the 4/4 time signature while retaining the dreamy layers of melodies and murky vocal loops that characterise Offermann’s oeuvre. Le Grand To Do rounds off with ‘Koleu’ and ‘Understandable’, tracks that delve into delicate house terrain and evoke Mule auteurs Lawrence and DJ Sprinkles. Such comparisons are fitting for an album that is a worthy addition to the Mule cannon.
Le Grand To Do is out now on Mule Musiq, order a vinyl copy from Kompakt.
TRACKLIST
A1 August ’14
A2 Find Yourself
A3 Carol’s Howl
B1 Banunanas
B2 Embrace The Condition
C1 Les Doors
C2 I Wonder
D1 Koleu
D2 Stormy Past
D3 Understandable
Discover more about Oskar Offermann and Mule Musiq on Inverted Audio.