Bleep

Back in the 2000s the duo of Joan Duat and Miguel Angel Martinez became key figures of the European IDM/experimental electronics scene through their work in Eedl. Indeed, both the group’s 2003’s Parallemped EP and 2007 debut LP Everse have become cult classics down the years. However, the pair have been rather quiet since the release of Everse, a fact which makes the arrival of second album Unstored all the more sweet. Eedl fans have been waiting for this day for a long, long time.

One listen to Unstored will tell you that this thing was more than worth the wait. It seems as if the pair had a whole load of adrenaline derived from not releasing any new music for so long, because this record contains some of Eedl’s most effervescent music. Tracks such as ‘Aether Noise’ hare out of the speakers with delirious glee, the squelching synth sounds and breathless drum programming feeding off the same zaniness as a Matmos or Squarepusher jam. ‘X Odd’ and ‘Queic’ also hum with pent-up energy.

While beats continue to pulse pretty much throughout Unstored there are also moments of greater contemplation here. Third track ‘Mellow Take’ delivers on the promise of its title with a nugget of floating, melodious IDM-electro, and ‘Tone Clutter Mix’ and ‘Vent’ are similarly pretty numbers. On these cuts you can discern a give and take with artists who have themselves been inspired by Eedl’s early work - Brainwaltzera, for instance.

The long-awaited return of Eedl brings a contender for one of the best modern IDM LPs.