Steve Hauschildt

Simultaneously the greatest and potentially most frustrating thing about Emeralds is that they just don't stay still long enough for us to take an accurate snapshot of them. Their constant drive for exploration of various styles of kosmische, drone, noise and ambient means that as a listener, you're never quite sure what to expect. Sometimes this can end up in disappointment, as with the newest Emeralds album, but in the case of Sequitur, the latest solo offering by Steve Hauschildt, it's a pleasing result. Featuring mostly low-in-the-mix, Bontempi-sounding beats over ambient synth washes and, on tracks such as "Vegas Mode," even some of that trademark arpeggiated synth work, Sequitur successfully blends several distinct threads together. "Accelerated Yearning" has more of an '80s feel to it and "Constant Reminders" evokes Canadian electronic pioneer and arch-weirdo Bruce Haack, with its heavily vocoder-laden vocals and playfulness. It's an odd album, but a good one, which will make you smile at its slightly off-kilter weirdness while soothing your weary bones.