Deru – Trying To Remember

this is a amazing album, one of my favorite songs is loki, one of the best songs ive heard. i listen whole album on once, its an amazing journey!

It's been almost two years since one of the leading IDM labels operating out of Florida, closed its doors. My dear Merck... I'm tired of sighing. Your impact on the music scene still resonates till this day - with new artists drawing inspirations from your past releases, and abandoned musicians still scrambling to find a new home for their future work. In the same light, I haven't heard anything from Deru since his 2004 release on Merck, Trying To Remember. He has, however, just finished his third album, Say Goodbye To Useless, which is scheduled to be released in the first half of 2009. About a year ago, I saw Benjamin Wynn play out live, at an outdoor festival, and his deep bass and punchy beats sent the vibrations far through the woods. Add to that some subliminal melodic samples with a glitch and swirling effects, and you got somewhat of a staple sound as spearheaded by the likes of Funckarma, Hecq, Kattoo, Gridlock, etc. (I can go on and on). One of my favorite tracks, is Deru's remix of Yasume's Rengoku, appearing on Colonized 01 (Colony Productions, 2007). Some very cinematic and futuristic moments there. His other treasured releases include the Pushing Air LP (Neo Ouija, 2003) and a remix compilation of his originals, released on a beautiful 10" vinyl, Pushing Soil (Delikatessen, 2004), with reworked tracks by Xela, Ginormous, Lo Grey Beam and Lusine. Deru returned the favor to Jeff McIlwain by remixing Auto Pilot on Lusine's Podgelism (Ghostly, 2007). Deru also appeared on Sutemos' Intelligent Toys 3 and even remixed KiloWatts' Two Days Off on Problems/Solved (AMM, 2006). Throughout his short discography, Wynn has managed to perfect his found sound. It is atmospheric. It is thumping. It is fractured. And once you hear it, you'll be able to recognize his touch and influence in others. Highly recommended. And I am anxiously awaiting his upcoming new album!

Hearing this record is the audio equivalent of biting into a really good peach: warm and fuzzy outside, sweet and just a little tangy inside. Deru's Ben Wynn has pieced together this aural confection using a wonderfully diverse palate of manipulated static, soothing pads, and lovingly twisted, processed beats. Unlike many current offerings from other electronic acts, however, Trying To Remember is not at all icy or overtly technical. In fact, there is a distinctly organic feel to the whole affair. Beautiful melodies float above the seas of fuzzy rhythms and hiss, as if to remind me that tunefulness is just as important as groove. Pieces like the album’s opener, "I Don’t Know You", ease into a comfortable, blissful space before slowly adding subtle elements of beat that are neither distracting nor completely forgettable. Wynn is also not afraid to abandon the beats and glitches altogether, a prime example being "Loki" which features a rhythm that gradually fades into a series of haunting vocal overdubs that still succeed in creating a huge sound space. The record also has its darker moments, like the strangely droning "Tapah", which incorporates a heavy hiphop beat atop what sounds like Middle Eastern horns. Whispering female vocals begin to swirl in and around the rhythmic, staccato stabs and just as the track is about to start sounding sinister, a lovely synth washes over the top, completely changing the direction and feel of things. It is moments like these that make this record stand out for me amidst the sometimes tiresome and sterile "clicks and cuts" approach to music. If this elegant group of tracks is at all representative of the rest of Deru’s work, I will definitely be picking up more of his creations.