Studio Barnhus is a Stockholm-based label run by a trio of Swedes, of which Axel Boman is one. On this latest release, fellow countryman Baba Stiltz is at the controls with 'Palats'.
On 'Palats', Stiltz lures you in with an occasional vocal snippet peppered into the textured, velvety chords, which themselves are coated generously in the snap and crackle of tape recording. These chords build until they eventually make way for crisp percussion, knocking its way throughout. And then comes the bassline, a hybrid of the fire alarm at a nuclear power plant and the foghorn of the SS Titanic. Complete mayhem ensues for the next five minutes, mayhem that finds itself enveloped between those aforementioned synths.
The flipside, 'Crypt', takes a slightly gentler approach. Heavenly synths whisper across a bassline that never appears to simmer too far above the surface. After the blitzkrieg-carnage of 'Palats', Stiltz is opting to tell a different tale. This one's more the calm after the storm, as the dust settles and the clouds realign to the sound of Baba's static-drenched melodies.
Palats - Baba Stiltz [Studio Barnhus]
Keep an eye out for this in the record stores - the patchwork-quilt sleeve art by Theodor Johansson should help. If you're shopping online, grab it from Juno.
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