Norwegian producer Hans-Peter Lindstrøm's Windings is an all-too-brief EP that continues his streak of excellence and leaves one immediately wanting more.
Having made a name for himself in the mid-2000s as a purveyor of so-called "space disco," Lindstrøm has continued to impress over the years, and this latest EP is no exception, even if his style may be getting a tad predictable.
Those familiar with his discography will rightly see this EP as a doubling down on 2012's more restrained and focused Smalhans, which immediately followed the far more freewheeling, psychedelic Six Cups of Rebel from earlier in the same year. Indeed, these three tracks could have easily appeared on Smalhans, but this is hardly a slight against the material here. The beats and bass lines are still funky, the arpeggios even more glistening and immaculate, the tension and release perfectly calibrated.
Opening track "Closing Shot" works the same bass line for eight-and-a-half minutes, for instance, and never gets boring thanks to Lindstrøm's expert pacing. The ratio of elements added to elements retained and removed is impeccably judged, and any potential ebb in listener patience soon crests into a triumphant wave ridden to the end.
Cries of "more of the same" may have some merit here, but Lindstrøm has already demonstrated he can get crazy when he wants to, and if Windings marks a holding pattern, it's still a pretty spectacular view.
(Smalltown Supersound)Having made a name for himself in the mid-2000s as a purveyor of so-called "space disco," Lindstrøm has continued to impress over the years, and this latest EP is no exception, even if his style may be getting a tad predictable.
Those familiar with his discography will rightly see this EP as a doubling down on 2012's more restrained and focused Smalhans, which immediately followed the far more freewheeling, psychedelic Six Cups of Rebel from earlier in the same year. Indeed, these three tracks could have easily appeared on Smalhans, but this is hardly a slight against the material here. The beats and bass lines are still funky, the arpeggios even more glistening and immaculate, the tension and release perfectly calibrated.
Opening track "Closing Shot" works the same bass line for eight-and-a-half minutes, for instance, and never gets boring thanks to Lindstrøm's expert pacing. The ratio of elements added to elements retained and removed is impeccably judged, and any potential ebb in listener patience soon crests into a triumphant wave ridden to the end.
Cries of "more of the same" may have some merit here, but Lindstrøm has already demonstrated he can get crazy when he wants to, and if Windings marks a holding pattern, it's still a pretty spectacular view.
