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August 14, 2018 - Hart & Tief
German minimal powerhouse Robag Wruhme, real name Gabor Schablitzki Robag Wruhme has planted his latest map marker along his Journey of Music Production. Gracing our ears via Pampa Records sub-label Hart & Tief, the Wuzzelbud FF double EP marks both Wruhme’s latest solo outing in several years and a thematic progression of his 2004 Wuzzelbud KK LP. The years in-between saw Wruhme focus on dreamy, melodic, slice-of-life-sampling work such as The Lost Archive 1998 - 2007, Donnerkuppel, and Thora Vukk. Robag Wruhme’s latest project is neither dreamy nor melodic; Wuzzelbud FF is deliberate and mechanical.
The 9 8 track project opens with the intro ‘Eingang,’ or ‘Entrance,’ (sorry Wruhme, this is not a track, though I am appreciative of it being separate on the playlist). A robotic voice welcomes listeners to the Wuzzelbud FF party.
No time is wasted. ‘Veddel Baav’ is a simple, dark, and harsh piece that burrows directly into the hearts and souls of dancing people. It’s a soft sort of harsh, not abrasive but certainly mean-spirited, like a toxic jellyfish floating in the deep. Wruhme pulls the tension lines taught with eerie sonic jabs and dramatic french horn bleats. The conclusion is stripped back, further building tension into ‘Perluv,’ a track that hits like a synth ocean wave, ebbing and flowing amongst wind chimes and thoughts of an approaching storm.
The titular track snaps attention swiftly back to the club. Wruhme is visibly (audibly?) in his element here: dark, moody, minimal techno dotted with micro samplings from a wide number of sources. The little “yeah!” vocal sample comes off almost comical, though I know it’s exactly what my inner voice sounds like as I close my eyes and raise my hands in the air to the smooth percussion and deep bass. Other human sample slices join in, pulling the track in and out of organic and nonorganic. Next is ‘Tisma,’ a track with the most melodic weight on the project thus far. Layer upon layer of liquid-saturated synths plunge the mood deep underwater. The percussive elements take a break from the spotlight, sitting further back amongst the plate-reverbs and tinny delays.
Continuing the pattern of hard banger/not hard banger, ‘Provol Eto’ steps up to be a hard banger. This track is in the heart of the machine. An electrified bass pulses like a heartbeat amongst a euphony of percussion, most notable a ghost-cowbell floating above the mix. The pattern is broken as ‘Maiowu’ is far from a not hard banger. Listeners are thrown back to the golden age ambient-techno-almost-anarchist-electro-IDM? of the 90s. Drum breaks bend and fold over each other vying for attention, in some ways continuing the ocean wave crashing metaphor found in ‘Perluv.’ The last half of ‘Maiowu’ splits open, revealing bittersweet melodic synth chords and raw human emotion. The effect is beautiful.
The penultimate ‘Wabb Bodun’ is a tension plateau. It’s the sort of track the DJ needs right at the top-of-the-rollercoaster moment of a club set. Right as the bass is built and the movement can’t be stopped, Wruhme tosses in a sneeze; its a silly moment but definitely not out of place. At that moment all you can do is wag a finger at the producer and keep on dancing. ‘Ausgang’ acts as the bookend to ‘Perluv,’ a sonic ocean-scape overlooking a setting sun. The audio waves build up to a dusty old piano playing the matching notes, then it’s all over, leaving nothing but the memory of music behind.
Robag Wruhme is a master of his craft. Wuzzelbud FF fits snugly amongst a catalogue of work that investigates how seemingly disparate elements—meticulous melodic progressions, organic micro samples, dark precise percussion—can work in and amongst each other. It’s deeply satisfying. 🍍