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artist.....: Abdulla Rashim
album......: Unanimity
year.......: 2014
label......: Northern Electronics
NE10CD
source.....: CDDA
moodswing..: Techno
releasesize: 82.91 MB
tracks.....: 09
length.....: 48:24
encoder....: VBR LAME 3.98.4 -v0
quality....: avg. 236kbps
scenealized: 08.25.2014
Since he first appeared about three
years ago, Abdulla Rashim has kept busy
honing his brand of textured, open-
ended techno. In late 2013 the Swedish
artist put out his most recent solo EP
on his self-titled label, the six-
tracker Aksum, which had more of an
album-like flow than his previous
records. Also around then came three
experimentally-tinged releases produced
with his friend Varg under the name
Ulwhednar, each of which found a home
on his newer, more eclectic Northern
Electronics label. Leaping into the
full-length format alone on Northern
Electronics, he conjures the
rhythmically mesmerizing and
emotionally gripping world of
Unanimity.
Rashim's music has always been
characterized by a relentless focus on
percussion, often with dense, rolling
drum patterns and distinctive, finely-
carved hi-hats and other hissing bits
of sound that slice into the treble.
But the melancholy ambiance that drifts
through his records has grown even more
into its own assertive and occasionally
malevolent force on Unanimity. You can
hear it right from the start with
"Under This Wasted Sky"'s throbbing
distortions, and through the album's
two beatless episodes: "No Borders,"
with all its hallucinatory birdcalls,
and "Nothing Existed," the noir-tinted
penultimate track.
Such swelling atmospheric elements are
put to good use across the rest of the
album, too, which sees Rashim
continuing to devise tough, complex
rhythms while sticking to a recent
tendency toward relatively shorter
track lengths. The results: a thrilling
range of high-pressure cuts that puts
to shame the shallow, fist-pumping
fodder of the scene's status quo (see,
for example, much of CLR and Electric
Deluxe's recent output). "Red Uprise"'s
levitating drums pulse and pitter-
patter beneath clouds thick with long,
dreary sighs. "Moral Blinds," on the
other hand, is a controlled meltdown.
One of a few 3/4 tracks here, its
metronomic hi-hat swishes act as a safe
haven among boiling acid pools and
swirling otherworldly shrieks.
What really holds Unanimity together,
though, is the catharsis and evolution
suggested by its track titles and
carried through to its dramatic last
moments. After "No God"'s revelatory
rush and the gloomy reflections of
"Nothing Existed," at last there's
"Unanimity," whose surging, angular
masses of percussion and distant wails
make for an exhilarating conclusion.
With nine tracks and a total length of
just over 45 minutes, Unanimity never
overstays its welcome, and has a
seemingly endless forward momentum. If
deep, hypnotic, adventurous techno is
your thing, you shouldn't miss this
one.
psst, more info at northernelectronics.bandcamp.com
01 Under This Wasted Sky 03:20
02 Path Inwards 04:59
03 Red Uprise 05:31
04 No Borders 03:45
05 Moral Blinds 07:08
06 Afar Depression 06:34
07 No God 07:11
08 Nothing Existed 04:36
09 Unanimity 05:20