Review: Dilettante – Sodoma Jungle EP - Nein Records
A possessed shaman summons the woolpack, rendering the sky in heavy weather – a Hodgkin landscape hanging low, like a ceiling. As the full curtain of cloud falls, glimpses of guitar, like shards of light, cut through the atmosphere and the rolling, rumbling bass.
“Sodoma Jungle” is nothing if not a bold opening gambit from Romanian producer Dilettante. His latest release, on Nein records, is not so much ‘dark disco’ as ‘throwing a sack over your head before taking you to an unspecified location whether you like it or not disco’. Thankfully, Stockholm syndrome kicks in by bar sixteen, so we’re willing passengers on this particular ride.
There’s no let up with “La Crainte”, either. A punchier beast, it’s possessed of an industrial undertow, a relentless riptide that drags everything with it screaming – at some points literally – as a voice rises then falls, drowned in reverb and the architectural, synthesized swell. |
Remix duty is provided by The Two Mamarrachos and Noar Wald, the former, getting their hands on “Sodoma Jungle”. They tame it, calm it down and fuck with the geography, introducing calming eastern tones and an even, measured pace. While the Mamarrachos don’t put it to sleep, they certainly give it a couple of Xanax and the subtly soporific results are the perfect counter to the original’s fiery intent.
Meanwhile, Noar Wald’s take on “La Crainte” lends added momentum courtesy of a drum track that punches above its weight and largely to the face, while keyboards fizz with purpose and energy. While that sounds overly brutal, the results are perfectly pitched rather than pugilistically punishing. It’s wonderful, digital only EPs like this that make me realise I have to drag my lagging, luddite arse into the 21st Century and get some sort of digital aspect to my set-up. And as calls to action go, this will do perfectly. Barney Harsent |