AFTER THE STORM

Tracklist 01 There 02 Is 03 Nothing 04 Better 05 Than 0,25 07 Clear 08 Blue 09 Sky 10 After The Storm Audio player: b2b.goodtogo.de/article/player/1564385 Awesome debut album from Argentine newcomer Barem! There. Is. Nothing. Better. Than. A. Clear. Blue. Sky. After The Storm. Taken literally, the track listing for Barem's debut LP represents that fleeting moment when nature puts its house in order, when calm and clarity triumph over chaos. Of course it also works perfectly as a metaphor for those fuzzy moments of self-reflection while sprawled on a hotel bed after another mind-blowing night at the controls, or while taking stock of a musical journey that's about to culminate in a debut album for the internationally renowned label that motivated you to start making music in the first place. Barem has always offered a more laidback counterpoint to the edgy sounds of some of his label mates. His decision to progress in a deeper, percussive direction began with the Kolimar EP (M68) and apart from the dark, ambient intro There, this vibe dominates the first half of the album. Is and Nothing really showcase his skill at concocting instinctive, percussion driven grooves, expressing a natural inner rhythm that exploits the full stereo field. Rich, rounded drum fills puncture the hidden space behind the beats, shimmering reverbs drench the cymbals while the bass lines remain reassuringly fat and familiar, gently hypnotizing as the LP settles into its groove. By the time we reach Bet ter the low pressure is beginning to break. Additional elements gradually make their presence felt as the beats continue to flay and splinter, phasing strings heighten the suspense and a delicate one note riff skips and bounces through spot effects and sprinkled vocal snippets as Barem coolly maintains the growing intrigue. As if to highlight the evolving nature of the LP, the transition to the more dubbed-out Than goes almost unnoticed as the gentle undertow begins pulling us into more familiar Minus territory. Disorienting percussive delays start jarring into the void, indiscernible vocal slurs reverberate out into the corners of the room and warm, acidic bleeps start tapping at the doors of perception. By the time we reach A, the psychedelics have well and truly kicked in. The percussive onslaught of the preceding tracks gives way to a deeper, mystical atmosphere driven by shakers and hats and offset with cavernous delays and detuned pads that warp and envelope the collective consciousness in the orange-red glow of some ancient tribal ritual. Having broken through to the other side, the eye of the storm is upon us. The last four tracks are all about the future. Clear gives ground to an abstract, subsonic groove that hisses and crackles like the dying embers of the night. A twisting motif then emerges from the flames rolling back and forth across the dance floor like some great bird stretching its wings before taking flight. Circling higher and higher, it is reduced to a distant speck before Blue - one of the definite standout tracks on the album - embarks on a spiral dive that represents Barem's new unity of sound in one magic bullet. With an audacious swoop it scatters the storm clouds, fusing together all the contrasting aspects of his repertoire that make the album such an intoxicating journey. Sky then announces the final ascent with a long, seductive intro that crystallizes into an elegant melody, while the throbbing bass line generates another ecstatic rush of dark energy. And then the clouds part, the sun breaks through and we're left with the sensation of After The Storm: after the turbulence and the tumult, we're greeted with tribal rhythms, muffled brass section and superb fretless bass riff all benefitting from a shift in 6/8 blues time signature that gives the album finale a fittingly reflective sensation - what Barem himself describes as that feeling of beauty when the dust is gone and everything is finally clear. Barem - biography Mauricio Barembuem (aka Barem) perfectly personifies the new breed of electronic musician who has grown up in the digital age, using intuitive software programs like Reason and Ableton to spontaneously express ideas and emotions. On-line distribution has also made it possible for them to reach out and connect with audiences across the globe, no matter where they are - Buenos Aires for example, where Barem grew up amid the hustle and bustle of a city on the edge. His teenage years were spent playing blues and rock guitar in bands but this always meant compromise. He longed for a purer form of self expression and eventually found it through electronic music, fascinated in particular by the way some DJs could impose their own personal vision onto the music they played, elevating it to an art form. It was exactly the inspiration he needed and Barem was soon experimenting with sampled loops and buying records (7th City, Spectral, Perlon and of course Minus). However, becoming a techno producer/DJ in Buenos Aires was easier said than done with gigs were few and far between. He was close to quitting a few times but found the right people at the right time and the solid advice they gave kept him motivated and focussed on his goal. It was to be a defining moment and from that point on his induction into the scene was fast and frenetic. He released the Kleine EP on the free net label Unfoundsound in July 2005 with the track Suki grabbing the attention of many prominent DJs, before graduating to Foundsound with his first vinyl EP - Campo Madness in May 2006. Meanwhile, his relationship with Minus was already taking root. Richie Hawtin encouraged him to submit some demos after hooking up in Buenos Aires, one of which - Opal, appeared on the Min2Max LP which kick-started a period of non-stop touring across the US and Europe as demand for his live performances grew. Two Minus releases then followed in quick succession. 2007 saw the release of his Never Better Than Late EP before 2008's superb Kolimar EP signalled a distinctive evolution of his sound, adding organic, house inflected grooves to his repertoire. Listening to both EPs, it's clear Barem concentrates most energy into creating the powerful bass line s that underpin his work. His expansive use of reverb and delay create space for subtle percussive elements to skip and snake while distant, sometimes eerie melodies occur on random, secondary levels as a result of these interacting elements. Those instincts have been honed and sharpened over recent months as Barem set to work on what is to be his debut full-length artist album. Conceived and recorded during a prolific period of creativity in his home studio in Buenos Aires in late- 2010/early-2011, After The Storm finds Barem in a place where he felt he could finally express himself over the course of an album. With its ten tracks named and constructed around the sentence "There is nothing better than a clear blue sky after the storm", the LP seeks to evoke a different feeling for each word, up until the album closer After The Storm, which shifts from the melodic stripped-down latin-tinged grooves that preceded it and breaks out into an unfamiliar 6/8 blues time signature - giving Barem his break in the clouds and triggering the ideas that went into the rest of the record: "It gives me that feeling of beauty right after the storm while being on the road, when the dust is gone and everything is clear". To accompany the record's June 2011 release, Barem has returned to the live performances he took a break from since 2008 to concentrate on DJ gigs. Barem's desire to return to the live format was motivated by his desire to express the new material in the most fitting context. Working with visual artist collaborators from his home city, a new visual show took shape as Barem prepares for the launch of the album and an accompanying tour that will take him across the world in support of the new record. Having established himself as an exciting addition to the Minus collective, 2011 promises to be a watershed year for the Argentinian. Having caught the eye with his early productions and on the bills of some of the biggest parties around the world, the time has come for Barem to step up and join the top ranks of the label's artists. The storm around this young producer is only just beginning.