Keda - Hwal [Parantheses Records 006 Promo]

Scheduled for February 1st, 2016 via Parantheses Records is the debut album of Keda, a collaborational project of the French, Ougadougou-born electronic music composer Mathias Delplanque and the Korean Geomungo player E'Joung-Ju. Within the seven tracks to be found on "Hwal", as the album is called, they're exploring several approaches to fuse modernist electronic techniques and the millenia-old tradition of the Korean instrument. On the opener "Dali" this approach is a pulsing, fever'ish and ritualistic one directly speaking to the human subconscious, goes into droney territorities accompanied by traditional geomungo sequences in "Encore" and even reminisces Psychedelia-influenced Dub in "Eobu Nolae". Furthermore the title track "Hwal" is a scenic episode for some reason reminding us of African sunsets and haunted jungle nights rather than of the Asian heritage of the instrument and "La Lune De Coree" is another journey in heavyweight Dub that's way closer to the original genre than "Eobu Nolae" and this for will resonate with all true bass headz out there. With the second to last tune "Swordfish" we find clanging percussions resembling both Musique Concrete and Post-PostRock whilst the geomungo brings in a bluesy Americana vibe and E'Joung-Ju's solo version of "La Lune De Coree" finally showcases the beautiful potential of her instrument for all those being not familiar with the sound of the geomungo at all. Check!