The Great Vague is an ode to all the music that is now extinct and an ode to all the music that is yet to be born. Still, the music sounds as if it exists on the cusp of a continual now: hypermodern avantgarde electronics blend characteristic, disjointed breakbeats with deconstructed shoegaze, all underpinned by the transcendent sensibilities of devotional music in the vain of Iasos and Matthewdavid’s Mindflight.
On opener and title track, The Great Vague, we’re raised to euphoric heights through a melancholy filter - the ecstasy is somehow realist but no less romantic for it; the bittersweet knowledge of the temporal coupled with a sense of longing; a nostalgia for the present. Where the first half of the track might find itself on the dancefloor, the second half has closed its eyes. The synthetic kick is replaced by a heartbeat (Tettix Hexer’s own) that roots the entire track before an arpeggiated synth spirals in an outward and upward direction. Synths take on qualities of the human voice, and tape delays flutter; seaweed in motion, everything blacklit.
Later, Venhændelse feels like soaring above the clouds, fog and moisture softening the sounds of the city; accentuating other, mechanical sounds that are caught upwind. Club sensibilities are rendered entirely devotional. It’s connected to the city, but it’s beautiful; transcendent. Visible Winds of Spring is sight obscured, but proprioception ensuring that your physical movement is graceful; light- and sure-footedness set to breakbeats and Fruity Loops-sounding bass. VWoS sounds like a windscreen while it rains, tears refracting street lights, or fireworks reflected in a pond of oily water.
Nested somewhere between Stars of the Lid and Boards of Canada, the opening notes of Lidless Sleep feel like a memory that loops and loops; you can’t stop reliving and revising the same situation again and again. Instead of forcing it away; it becomes richer, comes closer with each thematic repetition. The beat adds a feeling of determination and it feels like memory is being worked through - dealt with and digested.
It's a visual and resonant journey, The Great Vague, and a colourful introduction to one of Denmark’s finest electronic producers.
credits
released March 27, 2020
All tracks by Jens Leonhard Aagaard / Tettix Hexer
Mastering by Jeremy Cox
Artwork by Mikkel Valentin Dunkerley
Album out digitally via The Big Oil Recording Company, on vinyl together with Third Coming Records, and on cassette tape via Janushoved.
OIL040 / Janushoved no. 110 / TCR038
With many thanks for the financial support by The Danish Music Publishers Association / Koda’s Cultural Contributions
The 'Exchange' compilation sees Petrola80-affiliated artists sharing and developing ideas. It's a genre-defying audio rainbow, breaking new ground for an already-exciting label. The Big Oil Recording Company
Lovingly re-mastered and curated by Stroom from Cybe's tapes from the early 80's. Tropisch Verlangen is an immediate journey into semi-imaginary, exotic landscapes. Vivid postcards in gonzo prose. The Big Oil Recording Company
Newcastle, Australia's e4444e instills his airy indie pop with baroque flair and swooning psychedelic swells for a fluid, infectious affair. Bandcamp New & Notable Jul 19, 2020
On this harmonically rich LP, the Scottish singer-songwriter contrasts gorgeous soprano harmonies with strident folk-rock instrumentation. Bandcamp New & Notable Jul 26, 2023
Industrial textures and vocals with a hint of gothic melodrama come together on tAngerinecAt''s latest trip to the dark side. Bandcamp New & Notable May 3, 2022