Greenspan & Taraval Greenspan and Taraval

A strange confluence of sound that sounds part Krautrock synth label Brain records, part Hyperdub. Techno haze and synth wormholes with spectacular sound design that has banged at Berghain and soundtracked winter night drives.

Greenspan is known mainly for his work with Junior Boys and Jessy Lanza and Taraval is a longtime touring member of Caribou, but both have released several 12” and EPs of electronic exploration over the past few years.

Inspired by synthesizer minimalists like JD Emmanuel, Cluster and John Carpenter, the two attempted to create a type of dance music with hardware that was indebted to their influences but did not feel intrinsically retrogressive. The idea was to make a type of raw synthesizer and drum machine music that could be listened to beside the hypermodern techno of Pearson Sound or Actress.

The cover art is a tribute to a mysterious mural that looms over the Hamilton Ontario area where the album was recorded.

Each of the five tracks on the EP were edited down from much longer recording jams which were done with hardware sequencers in real time. The recording was done completely off the floor with no overdubs or added material after the fact.

As this release might appeal to synthesizer hobbyists and enthusiasts it seemed appropriate to compile a list of the instruments used in the original recordings. they are as follows:

Arp Odyssey Pioneer Toraiz SP 16 Eurorack Modular System Roland JX8P DSI Tempest Simmons SDS8
Roland SH101 Roland Jupiter 6 Yamaha CS50 Oberheim OBXA