Tristan Arp - End of a Line or Part of a Circle
Modular music has been on the rise for the past few years, with artists such as Surgeon bringing it to the forefront of music discourse with his performances in the Boiler Room or super groups like STOOR, several huge modular pioneers improvising together. While these artists are phenomenal, a small proponent of people find modular too robotic and electronic. Criticism is often thrown that it feels slightly soulless because of the bleep-bloop nature of the instruments. Tristan Arp is a musician bringing the sounds of nature into modular, subverting these notions. With releases on Wisdom Teeth and his own Human Pitch label, Tristan Arp has continuously pushed the music for plants' aesthetic, think Mother Earth's Plantasia (1976).
Since his incredibly well-received album Sculpturegardening (2021) introduced audiences to the free-flowing and organic ambient Tristan Arp created, he has endeavoured to diversify his sound. Tristan returns in 2023 with a new EP on Martyn's 3024 label, cut from similar cloth to Sculpturegardening but with more club focus. End of Line or Part of Circle challenges perceptions of club music by subverting dark, melancholic undertones for a much brighter, colourful sound. The Rounded bass notes and vivid glassy melodies return on the EP, with the track 'The Language Change' reviving that impeccable formula. 'The Language Change' disrupts expectations of modular by capitalising on that same glitched approach to music making, substituting many of the rawer electrical sounds for more naturalistic textures. 'Branching Streams' uses vocals to add humanity and an organic feeling. All the tracks shine with a gorgeous appreciation of sampled instruments, and their application makes every song sound like a living jam. 'Panspecies Rights' dives headfirst into its percussion, standing out as it creates layers of percussion that overlap and interlock, emulating traditional percussion circles, while the title track 'End of a Line or Part of a Circle' shows similar emulation of this style, Tristan demonstrates that he can also create that darker club track still groves to the beat of his drum through ruthless 808s and rumbling bass complement metallic sounds that inject a grittiness. Finally, one of my favourites on my EP is 'A Liveable Earth', with its psychedelic drones and spacious production allowing for some of its most reflective moments.
Tracklist:
End of a Line or Part of a Circle
Branching Streams
Panspecies Rights
A Livable Earth
The Language Change
Label: 3024
Tristan Arp - End of a Line or Part of a Circle
