With another surefire fire hit in the works, Cocoon Recordings demonstrates once again its got the stuff that keeps us coming back for more.
The Italian writer Italo Calvino described melancholy as sadness that has taken on lightness, an idea that perfectly encapsulates the emotional pull and insatiable drive of top notch melodic techno. Holocene by Apir & Justin Marchacos is just that, an electronic soundscape of epic proportions, built for a huge soundsystem and best experienced under cover of a warm, balmy summer night. Executed with poise, precision and restraint, this expanding mosaic of sound has a classy musical sensibility at its heart in the form of a haunting piano part. While the rolling beats, morphing hook lines and seductive breakdowns take the listener to the brink but never let go.
Keeping that in mind, its no surprise to find out that Apir is actually the alter ego of Tim Green whose decade long relationship with Cocoon Recordings culminated with last years acclaimed Her Future Ghost LP. Here, together with New York freshman Justin Marchacos, he continues this rich vein of form onto the flip side as were invited on another deep space exploration in the form of The Fifth.
A warm, percolating, arpeggiated bass line acts as the driving force on this stripped down excursion, while gentle automation lends a crackling neon glow to proceedings. Its a slow burning affair that peaks as gleaming hi hats slice through the darkness to reveal another mystical riff, danciüng and flickering in the twilight.