Twilight Moose - Embrace the Loneliness

TWILIGHT MOOSE - EMBRACE THE LONELINESS (STRANGE LIFE)

Following on from the latest Legowelt release, Danny Wolfers enters the newest of his many pseudonyms, continuing the fascination with the stark beauty of the Pacific North West which started with his Smackos project.

These tracks are, like most of his work, quick jams on a strictly limited set of hardware such as a SH-101, Roland 808 and Wolfers’ favourite synth, the Roland JX3P, and there’s an appealing brevity to most of the tracks on here. It’s undoubtedly signature material from him, but unlike the latest Legowelt album, very much electro-orientated with “Trans Alaskan” in particular veering very close to Drexciya at points. The sinewy arpeggios and creepy choral noises of “Pacific Bay” and “Juneau keeps on Raining” do their best to illuminate a picture of windswept North American communities wreathed in fog, and “Forest Information Center” is Wolfers at his sinister best, all disembodied vocals and haunting synthscapes that retain a sense of menace throughout in the best tradition of John Carpenter.

The highlight for me is the piercing minimalism of “Aurorastar”, all hi-hats and subdued sequenced synths that recall Robert Hood at his very best, albeit without the thumping 909s, and “NorthMoose”, which contains a great synth lead that drags itself all over the track. Like the aforementioned Drexciya, Wolfers is at his best in creating immediate tracks without recourse to reworking them, and the more he makes, the better he becomes at it. “Embrace the Loneliness” is another strong album to add to what is becoming a truly formidable back catalogue of music.

Toby Frith

TWILIGHT MOOSE HOMEPAGE