Now that his work with the Orb has earned him a place in electronic music history, Fehlmann is afforded the artistic license to transcend all previous boundaries. His musicality and experimentalist drive converge with exceptional grace and system-bumpin' appeal. Granular hip-hop grooves and exotic chord structures interface with bold, synthetic finesse, while his housier inner child locks down some precision dance-floor cuts immersed in fluidly manipulated filtration.
After extensive forays into more physical, club-related tracks with his series of Blah… releases (on Kompakt) Lowflow, recorded on and off over the last years, now heralds a return to his slower, more experimental side and provides a surprisingly concise description of the albums overall feel.
Both minimal and expansive, Lowflow allows its tracks to float
across and into each other, an infinite, gentle mix to which
Fehlmann playfully introduces the soft murmur of chimes, pedal steel guitar or his very own trumpet. From opener Goldhaar (a christmas song, really") and the
disjointed fascination of the decidedly unslinky Slinky with its hypnotic, focused distortion via the briefest of Alice Coltrane homages ( Interstellar ) to the almost rocky determination of Alice Springs and the classic, minimalist house of Andrea is Delighted, Lowflow nevertheless retains a distinctly dubby, German flavour, a seamless pleasure that loves to pause and interrupt itself to create its very own, idiosyncratic flow.
Everything on this record was generated by Thomas himself, except the cover supplied by seminal artist Raymond Pettibon who was his only contact when he first came to LA 15 years ago, as well as three short, connecting interludes growing out of a collaboration with Detroit artist Dabrye.
With "Lowflow", Thomas Fehlmann has fashioned the perfect soundtrack for any location, equally at home at hip hop clubs or electronic dub events, on the beach or in your car, on the roof enjoying the L.A. sunset or in the crisp cosiness of a chilly Berlin night. A tricky and compelling record that demands your attention and fully deserves it.
Background:
Even those not familiar with Fehlmann?s more recent solo outings on R&S and Kompakt will
probably know one of his various guises or collaborations, as Thomas, a former member of seminal German avantguarde terrorists Palais Schaumburg, has been involved with art and
music for more than two decades.
Besides his work with The Orb he produces a weekly radio show (OceanClub with Gudrun Gut) and has been responsible for countless of remixes and productions, including work for Juan Atkins, Sun Electric, Einstürzende Neubauten, Serge Gainsbourg, Erasure or Klaus Schulze, the list is, literally, endless.
Questioned on his ambitions, Thomas is likely to reply: “I guess I am just a happy musician with many hobbies.”