Seams
Quarters
Full Time Hobby
Street: 09.30
Seams = Gold Panda + Moderat + Telefon Tel Aviv
Structural, clear-eyed, intentional and a bit boring, the Berlin–based producer Seams has a penchant, on his first full-length, to start out with a thesis and stick with it no matter what, sometimes at the expense of the record’s listenability. Quarters utilizes crisp, unadorned beats that snap and pop in crystal-clear hi fidelity. These simple chord progressions and beats are then added on layer by layer with buzzing synths and serrated arpeggios until the sum eventually outweighs its parts, but not without leaving a golden thread back to the beginning. Kraut grooves abound and some of the oscillating synth sounds are worth the price of admission. Dedicated listeners of electronic music will find this brick-by-brick construction pretty thrilling, while casual listeners are better off reaching for something with more obvious and immediate returns … to their loss. –Ryan Hall