Softoft Techech – s/t (Alchemist, 2012)

Softoft Techech – s/t
Alchemist 2012

Softoft Techech is Paul Slocum, who is a programmer and musician based in Brooklyn. "Sonic Tooth" begins with a bassy dance beat with a very short loop of something vocal and maybe a synth. Mixed with this are some synth drones and chords slowly being played. Another vocal clipping layers on top, creating a rather glitchy aesthetic. The song ends quite coldly and doesn’t feel fully realized or developed, but it still sounds good nonetheless. "Exp", starts off with a short loop of two synths playing a few notes slightly in sync with each other. A few seconds later a drum machine enters playing some poly-rhythms as a queasy synth drone overwhelms the initial synth loops. A more standard 4/4 bass beat enters in the mix and an electric guitar melody enters also, looping. The piece gets progressively more glitchy as many different short vocal loops, which are really quite beautiful, enter and exit in a short amount of time. "Moon Patrol Remix" enters with a distorted, poly-rhythmic drum track of electronic bongos. On top enters a pretty funky, distorted, Latin American sounding melody maybe coming from a synth. This loops as some light, ethereal, delayed vocal chanting enters, in addition to some wavering synth drones. The drones drop out as some more aggressive synth sounds spurt out in quarter notes in sync with the beat. "PlentyC Remix" starts with a rather low, distorted synth drone and a couple poly-rhythmic, digital drum tracks. The 4/4 bass beat enters again, along with more light and gentle vocal loops. Eventually the drums cut out and the listener is just left with a beautiful, looping, vocal drone and some harmonious synth drones looping as well. "Spa Basics" begins with some distorted synth wash as a dancy drum machine beat enters. It sounds like a looped guitar or synth comes in a bit later as well as some new-agey synth drones over the dance beat.

Cassette/digital download for purchase: http://alchemistrecords.com/releases/softofttechech.html