Strange phenomena of the past [is anyone still counting?] months, is that while C-19 has slowed a number of things to a halt, new records have kept falling like the rain. To the extent that i'm still playing catch up. One to have passed me by until now is Romeo Poirier's debut for Sferic, a stand out exploration of ambient/glitch/fourth world aesthetics and textures that leads the way in what is an increasingly busy field - honestly, i love a lot of it, but Hotel Nota betters a good deal of the West Mineral output by some way. Poirier's been working away at his sound across a number of aliases for a good minute now, and his craft shines bright. Early Oval/Milles Plateaux fans would do well to take note, and Poirer's dub touches do recall early Stefan Betke and some of the Perlon stable. Smart for sure, but this is also very much human-touched electronica - glitch at its best! Solid gold home listening experience for the home listening generation. Alongside Pretty Sneaky, this is gone right to the top of the pile this year.
