Ripperton - Niwa (2010)
Ripperton - Niwa (2010)
Electronic | Album | MP3 CBR 320 Kbps | 149 Mb
Publisher: Tartelet | Language: English
Immaculately constructed to the point of refined delicacy, yet luxurious and inflamed with passion—that kind of duality can suffuse music with depth and meaning, but it’s a feat that many producers don’t pull off over entire careers. That the Swiss artist Raphaël Ripperton has done so on his debut long-player—and in a natural, seemingly unforced fashion—solidifies his claim as one of the main players in what could be termed “dream-tech,” a sound that fuses techno’s attention to tonal experimentation with the satiating sumptuousness of the best deep house. Ripperton has been hinting at this kind of vibe, both through his work with Mirko Loko as Lazy Fat People and via a string of singles for Dessous, Connaisseur, liebe*detail and other like-minded labels for years now. Still, the accomplished, confident feel of Niwa (Japanese for garden) comes as a welcome surprise. The set opens with “A Simple Thing,” with humming voices and chiming bells marking out a melancholy tune, while a walking bassline and sparse house rhythm serve as the lightest of anchors. Next up is “At Peace,” one of several featuring numbers Christina Wheeler—the onetime NYC-based electronic artist, now living in Berlin—on vocals; it’s another lush and melodic cut, sweet in temperament and swirling with emotion. It’s not all pastoral docility, though—the low-end arpeggio of “Ecotone” and stripped-down throb of “A Train to Nowhere” could easily rock any right-thinking dance floor. But it’s in Ripperton’s introspective moments—the solemn waltz of “L’Ardo,” for instance, or the somber, humming “Random Violence”—that Niwa fully flowers.Tracklist:
1. A Simple Thing
2. At Peace
3. Ecotone
4. The Sandbox
5. Echocity
6. L'Ardo
7. Farra
8. I Know My Place
9. A Simple Interlude
10. Des Promesses De Couleurs
11. Leonor's Lanugo
12. Random Violence
13. A Train To Nowhere
14. Solastalgia