Bleep

Grøndal sees Roger Semsroth entering a world of frostily beautiful synthesiser music as Nordvest. Gathering tracks which had previously emerged as digital-only drops from Semsroth’s Sleeparchive project, these are impressionistic works in which modulating synths come flecked by reverb and delay. Rhythmic impetus is provided not by drums, which are largely absent from Grøndal, but comes instead from the cut and thrust of the synths themselves. As such, some of the livelier numbers here recall Barker’s recent Utility LP - the quicksilver ‘Rooftops & Chaotic Streets Eight’, for instance - as well as the work Craven Faults has produced over the past couple of years.

Amid the enveloping synthscapes there are a couple of tracks in which drums are brought into the fold, and it is in these moments that Grøndal veers closest to Semsroth’s previous output. While ‘Scribbles Two’ may not quite have the circuit-fried electro feel of the two records which Semsroth previously released on Suction under the name of Skanfrom, similarities can certainly be heard in the chattering synths and percolating percussive tones. Meanwhile ‘Rooftops & Chaotic Streets Seven’ comes off like a more moody and minimal version of the techno Semsroth makes as Sleeparchive.

Roger Semsroth returns to Suction Records for the first time in six years with Grøndal, a set of harmonious synthesiser compositions and the debut LP from his new Nordvest project.