There's something unexplainably cool about a man who arrives at a venue with a suitcase full of electronical music devices, which he uses to produce smooth sounds which you can both chill, relax, move your feet and make weird dancing motions to. But that's what Rando Arand, an experimental glitch jazz composer and sound designer based in Tallinn, exactly does with his music. After the well received outsider techno tracks he released in 2019 on the LIITHELI imprint, we seem him returning to the downtempo, ambient and future jazz roots, just like his debut on Asphalt Soliloquies.
Breezy atmospherics, sounds from the nature with chirping grasshoppers, chimes and tubular bell like sounds. What is this? A new age soundtrack from the 80s? But then the percussion and beat kicks in and I'm quickly reminded I'm listening to "August Nights", the folktronic melody vibes of a musical artist, whose whole concept could be summed up as a mixture of electronical versus natural sounds.
The abstract and free flowing approach continues with "Utt" and its companion track "Pea Peal". Broken beats with a nordic nu-jazz element (think of early Nuspirit Helsinki, the more experimental side of Jaga Jazzist, Uusi Fantaasia's first album, or Karl Lindh on Strange Life Records), the phat double bass sounding low end is slapping and eccentric synth stabs keep you alert.
But wait! There's more! "Sepia" offers trip hop beats, fuzzy and pulsating electronical keys with some subtle hints of glitch. In my mind, I'm envisioning this as a fine addition to the legendary "lo-fi beats to study/relax" Youtube channel.
If you're a fan of classical japanese ambient, you can find beauty and melancholy tones in the finishing track "Rohujuuretasand".
Check out "Aru EP" on the artists Bandcamp page
