In its continued efforts to become Canada’s most prolific label electronic or otherwise Vancouver imprint 1080p is back with another forward-thinking collection of out-there electronic music. This time it comes courtesy of Turin-based producer Yari Malaspina’s OOBE project which has birthed the wildly eclectic but repeatedly fascinating Digitalisea.
Following OOBE’s 2013 effort SFTCR for Opal Tapes Malaspina rarely stays in one place for long on this mindfuck of a journey treading into everything from after-hours minimal techno bleakness to ’90s-dabbling dance euphoria to ambient cosmic bliss. And while Malaspina does show a knack for abstract beat-making it’s the latter that’s the real draw. The soothing post-kosmische synthscapes of tracks like “Deep Space Lovers” the two-part “Stardust” and the epic title track set the vibes on “chill” as OOBE enters a seriously soothing headspace. As a package it’s hard not to get washed up in it all even if analog warmth is traded in favour of synthetic Web 2.0 weirdness.
Yes there’s an overabundance of quantity at 1080p but as Digitalisea proves there’s a whole lot of quality here too.