Domink Eulberg: Herbarium
Traum

Nature lover Dominik Eulberg titles his latest EP Herbarium, a botany term that refers to the way in which dried plant specimens are preserved by mounting them in sheets (a selection of Eulberg's favourite plants are shown on the record sleeve). Displayed in this manner, the plants' delicate and distinguishing features can be better appreciated. Not surprisingly, Eulberg brings a similar sensitivity to the two long cuts comprising the EP.

The A-side's “Kriechender Günsel” is a swinging, almost Latin-tinged techno groover that exudes a rather Villalobos-like percussive feel in its opening moments—until a locomotive charge appears accompanied by a needly one-note synth accent that drills itself straight into one's forehead. The note elongates into a swarm before dropping out completely to allow a luminescent melody to seep through the open windows before the note re-emerges and the groove picks up again. During its opening half, the flip's eleven-minute “Kuckucks – Lichtnelkw” focuses less on a straight-up club groove and more on an unusual juxtaposition of burbling, handclap-laden pulses and slow, wavering themes that chime like a carousel, though the second half finds the tune settling into a more conventional surging pattern.

April 2008