Kandis ‎– 1996-99

Some abstract electronics from Kandis on his album 1996-99. The rhythms never stray beyond mid-tempo trip-hop, but there’s a careful melodic sensibility that makes the project appeals. On “Intro,” for example, there’s a rattling (like someone shaking a glass of marbles) that help ground the more squelchy sounds to follow. Similarly, “Treasure Island” is rooted in the heavy bassline, but kept buoyant by the lighter tones above it. The quiet vocals in “Waiting” add a nice texture to the track. On the downside, there’s a tendency to take a single theme and repeat it ad infinitum, and with such pleasant sounds, it’s easy to get lost in the track and completely forget you’re listening to it. That is, of course, until you get to “Dilldop [B2]” which distinguishes itself by being much more aggressive percussively; “Val Wok” continues in the same vein, while “Set Tecker” returns to earlier niceties, but with an industrial underpinning. “Dilldop [A1]” goes even more industrial, but “Ivy” and “Outro” put us back in the mood to lay back and enjoy. While not particularly a stand-out album, you could do much worse than this.