Vladislav Delay: Kuopio (Raster-Noton)

Sasu Ripatti continues to surprise and delight after all this time. I’m happy to see him revive his Vladislav Delay alias with such gusto. It’s definitely not cut from the same cloth as his dense, crinkly Chain Reaction releases in the late 90s, nor is it at all like the sparse dub he released under the moniker several years ago. Instead there’s something anxious and impatient about the rhythmic arrangements herein — fidgety and nervous as beats and effects weave in and out of one another. It’s almost as if some of his other personas have melted together, combining some of the techy leanings of Uusitalo and the slightest suggestion of Luomo’s house angle, but in oblique ways. Even as Kuopio contains some of the most straightforward tracks he’s made yet under this name, they’re deceivingly complex and unusual upon closer listening. That I can’t put my finger on just what or why is what makes this so compelling.

Buy it : Raster Shop | Boomkat | Bleep | iTunes | Amazon