★★★☆☆
A deep house oasis, a blur and overlap into a blissful massaging of dancing feet, an improvised, accessible victory over doughty beats… Ryan Crosson and Cesar Merveille introduce themselves as goers with the flow, turning on-the-low drowse into pleasant giddiness. “Pending” gambols down village lanes and over babbling brooks, looking for a TV extra meal ticket as it goes. It is orderly and not just a scatterbrained wax and wane of thoughts and emotions, despite some stretches of “Again & Again” getting a juicy groove on while all around is losing it in an unruly jazz patchwork.
This is where DRM becomes less like relaxation and more like work. “No Hassle” is streaked with smoky piano and horn drones played near blindfolded, both sneaky and bold in its chatter over a routine rhythm. The 13-minute title track is less of a team player with its scrappy creativity, though once people hear the chug of the bass, as per the more tribal “Orca”, the shift as to what’s in charge is obvious.
To boost the initial feeling of freedom, passionate electronica with an IDM bent in “At The Seams” and the apprehensive “Escale” returns to telling ears to go with what they feel, able in being both alert and ready to bed you down. A little mismatched with its timings and course, but any bid to make the natural and irregular work deserves credit.
File under: Visionquest, Luciano, Queen Atom