Do you remember Härdstedt? You probably don’t. Härdstedt is the moniker of the Swedish Örebro-based techno/acid/ambient-producer Pelle Härdstedt that I wrote about a couple of months ago when he released his acidic, dark techno track  Baklänges På VHS (Reverse On VHS). Since that I haven’t kept track on his newer releases or new techno releases in general. As a matter of fact I have been more retrospective, focusing on discovering all of those old producers that made it possible for techno as we know it today to  actually happen. You know: I’m talking about Juan Atkins/Model 500, Robert Hood, Drexciya, Underground Resistance, Jeff Mills and so on.

However, when Härdstedt sent me his new EP due to be released on his own imprint Under Molnet I quickly forgot about all those things known as Detroit Techno and Chicago-house. The EP is called Ypsilon (greek for the letter y) and is a beautiful sonic exploration of pulsating, hypnotic techno ,aquatic ambient soundscapes and heavily (yeah, like really, really heavy) reverbed acid. But with these genre overlapping influences you’re maybe asking yourself: well, how does the music sound like then? Well, not bad. Not bad at all.  However, there’s this shattered feeling that’s been sown into the whole EP, a feeling of something trying to coexist with something else. It’s like a paradoxal interaction.

That’s maybe why this EP sounds so unfathomable. It’s dark but at the same time its not. The music sounds minimalistic but everything is drenched in layers of reverb causing everything to resonate in a vast space resembling the acoustics of a giant church, and therefore making the music turn inscrutably maximalist. But at the same time it’s not, get it? No? Well, stop reading this and start listening instead.

You can buy Härdstedts EP here both digitally and on cassette.

Artist: Härdstedt
Title: Ypsilon
Record Label: Under Molnet
Verdict: 8/10

Tracklist

1 – Chi 07:22
2 – Ypsilon 09:01
3 – Siare i norr 08:13
4 – Pappersbron 06:05