"Adam Feingold expands his artistic portfolio with a brief yet winning collection that breathes new life into staid dub techno traditions."
Montreal’s Adam Feingold explores outer limits transmissions of breaks, lo-fi techno, and laid back grooves as a producer and label curator. Under his own name and as Ex-Terrestrial, Feingold pilots his gear towards wide open, experimental soundscapes within the electronic zone. His debut EP, ‘Paraworld’, was a low-key masterpiece revelling in 90s ambient house aesthetics that offered a new era of chill-room sonics. Similarly, his Temple label occupies a niche of like-minded artists and producers navigating the clouds and beaming back dispatches of Braindance indebted electronics.
With pondlicker, Feingold’s latest moniker, listeners are treated to a neon-kissed palette of pillowy keys and dub techno on ‘Soft Focus’, the project’s inaugural release. Released on another of Feingold’s labels, NAFF Recordings, the album presents a set of skilfully crafted tracks that incorporate bright, playful melodies astutely configured for adventurous dance floors. It builds on and expands the excellent foundation set up by previous releases from, among others, Priori, Purelink, and Cousin.
‘Soft Focus’ works its magic best during the night and early morning hours. Whether you’re a late night club goer or an early riser, the delicate synths and percussive springs come off especially well when the sky is still dark, the streets are empty, and the mind is either fighting off the circadian urge to crash or firing up for the start of a day yet still a little bleary eyed.
The opening wash of “noomi” offers a synapse-flaring string of brightly lit keys shining a light on the darkness and offering a danceable rhythm. The track is a bit of a misdirection, as the upbeat melodies of the opener give way to a slightly darker tone. “noomi” feels communal and open while the water-logged dub of “never hit the bottom” and “licker” look inward and reflect a deep after hours perception. The light, swirling percussive brushes amplify a sense of comfortable stillness you get when you’re up while the world sleeps.
The only drawback to ‘Soft Focus’ is that it is all too brief. These are the types of sounds meant to get lost in and revisit, but one hopes this is an introduction to more tunes down the road. On this debut for pondlicker, Adam Feingold expands his artistic portfolio with a brief yet winning collection that breathes new life into staid dub techno traditions.
‘Soft Focus’ in out now via NAFF Recordings. Buy a vinyl copy from Inverted Audio Record Store and digital from Bandcamp.
TRACKLIST
A1. noomi
A2. pluck (ft. Richard)
A3. orchid media
B1. never hit the bottom
B2. lick
