eMusic

Start Your Trial

Lowflow

by

Thomas Fehlmann

 
  • Pick
Lowflow
view larger image View Larger

Rate it!

Avg: 4.0 (34 ratings)

German techno and ambient house veteran goes trip-hop.

  • We Say...

    The title surely refers to the record's basslines, which seem to bubble up to the speakers from the Earth's inner core. An atypical outing for this German techno and ambient house veteran, Lowflow thoroughly explores the intersection between hip-hop beats and dub production. It's a record filled with tension; staccato programming on "Interstellar" and "Hana" suggest a lean forward despite the laidback and mellow quake of bottom. Have a subwoofer handy.

  • They Say...

    During the period that bridged 2002's Visions of Blah to 2004's Lowflow, Thomas Fehlmann left no dates open for stargazing. He toured on a handful of continents, remained active with Gudrun Gut's Oceanclub collective (while having a hand in a pair of Oceanclub releases), contributed too little to an otherwise hapless Orb album, scattered productions on an array of various-artist discs, and graced the Kompakt label with another solid, varied 12". The difference between this album for Plug Research and Visions of Blah could've only been forecasted by those paying strict attention to Fehlmann's career. Between 1999 and 2003, the producer dropped at least five hints. Three tracks on Scape compilations, one on a Plug Research release, and another as part of the Kreisel 99 series pointed toward deeper flirtations with hip-hop and dub. Those five tracks, incorporated into eight new ones to form Lowflow, show that he's no mere dabbler. Away from the four-four, the grinding shuffle, and mind-warping ambient that he has worked with throughout the past several years, Fehlmann seems more freed than handcuffed, supplying a surplus of meticulously crafted beats -- at one moment pavement cracking and then as aqueous as he's ever been -- and textures -- at one moment looming and menacing and then speckled with glints of light -- that fit just about any nonaggressive mood. One of the more remarkable facets of the album is that, even with its range from spaced-out, alternately prickly and thumping dub to vaguely Eastern-sounding breakbeat abstractions, it keeps a keenly stitched-together sequence. Three wildcard interludes co-produced with Dabrye are equally important cogs. Wherever you choose to slot this album (instrumental hip-hop, ambient breakbeat, experimental techno), it'll fall somewhere near the top of the class for its year of release. Had this been up for grabs eight years ago, Mo' Wax's James Lavelle would've likely done something very desperate to release it on his label.

  • You Say...

    I would like to say...

    Artist: Thomas Fehlmann

    Album: Lowflow

    Review Title: (maximum 50 characters)

    Your Review: (maximum 1,000 characters)

    Cancel

    Please keep your comments to the recordings themselves, and be courteous and respectful. Thanks! For further info, read our Community Guidelines.

    Write a Review

The indie iTunes — Hardcore music fans are migrating to eMusic, the iTunes Music Store's cheaper, cooler cousin.


Rolling Stone
Start Your Trial

© 1998-2008 eMusic.com Inc. eMusic and the eMusic logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks in the USA or other countries. All rights reserved.

All Music Guide © 1992 - 2008 All Media Guide, LLC
Portions of content provided by All Music Guide, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC

YouTube, Flickr™ and Wikipedia® are registered trademarks of their respective owners, Google, Inc., Yahoo! Inc. and Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Neither Google, Inc., Yahoo! Inc. nor Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. are partners or sponsors of eMusic. eMusic uses the Flickr, YouTube and Wikipedia API but is not endorsed or certified by Flickr, YouTube and Wikipedia. eMusic does not pre-screen, monitor, endorse nor assume any liability for websites, contents, products, services or claims made by YouTube, Flickr™ and Wikipedia®.