Dystopian tundra daze with: Vár Sofandi – ERGO PROXY #Techno #IDM @varsofandi

After a few days of sun the clouds and cold have returned. So it seems only suitable to pick something equally dark and gloomy for today’s offering. We have IDM techno from Finland’s Vár Sofandi.

Vár Sofandi is from Oulu in central Finland (where the Oulujoki River meets the Bay of Bothnia – if that helps). Apparently, it was once known for wood tar and salmon but has evolved into a major high-tech centre, particularly in IT and wellness technology. And technology is at the forefront of Vár Sofandi’s work, alongside inspiration from “traditional Finnish melancholy and the beauty of the northern landscapes.”

He describes ERGO PROXY as “deep tech” which undersells how strange it is. Given it’s named after the 2006 cyberpunk anime series perhaps that strangeness shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise.

This opens with one of the most ominous bass lines you’ll ever hear. There’s unearthly clickery and trickery on top. It’s all quite eerie and unsettling. This eventually gives way to something with more minimal techno pace but all the sounds are strained as if being held back by an unseen force. This gives it an inherent tension and sense of spectral opposition. That layers tech house mystery into the mix.

By modern standards this is a long track, coming in at almost ten minutes. But the ongoing use of tension leads you further and further into the track to hear how it resolves. In line with the rest of the track there is no neat and warming epiphany. This ends as strangely and disturbingly as it starts but into fade.

Everyone needs a dose of melancholic strange techno. This is just for you.

~ by acidted on March 29, 2022.