Wojtek Kiwer - Disconnect

A Closer Listen

Kraków’s okła records unveils its second batch of tapes next week, showcasing intriguing typography and colorful collaged art that draw the listener in before pressing play.  Wojtek Kiwer‘s Disconnect is billed as a suite of modular improvisations, but they have so much form that the phrase may lead people astray.  Instead, the cover collage itself is the best indication of what the music will sound like.

When the listener is greeted with a piano loop, the impression is ambient, with a suggestion of modern composition.  But the music will refuse to stay in this arena.  Making fine use of depth and the stereo field, other tembres flex in the background before seizing the fore.  The cover includes disparate elements in balance; the music follows suit.  Pulses develop that are suitable for dancing, although they never run through a complete track.  The heart of “PRISM” is pure techno, and would devastate a club with the simple addition of drums.  Layer upon layer is added and removed, like a Jenga tower from which bricks are pulled without a crash.

“Particles” is the other floor-burner, although again its tempos emerge from beneath a bubbling surface of ambience.  Since some of the tape’s tracks remain ambient throughout, the shift comes as a pleasant surprise.  One wonders at the phrase, “captured once and never to be recalled again,” because we suspect the dominant patterns, at least, can be recalled.  Reminiscent of CoH’s music, “PARTICLES” begs to be remixed for a crossover audience.  But that may not be Kiwer’s intention.  He seems to want to float until he feels like dancing, and dancing until he feels like floating, best exemplified by “DAY OFF,” whose very title suggests a playful pursuit. If this is the only time and format in which we will hear these recordings, we’ll still be satisfied.  (Richard Allen)