TOSCA
Delhi 9
K7/Fusion III
· What a difference the dub makes.
· Smoke ’em if you got ’em.
Delhi 9 proves that Richard Dorfmeister (of Kruder and Dorfmeister fame) is keeping his eye firmly on the prize, creating an album of engaging soundscapes, meaty bass lines and subtle atmospherics. Mood is paramount, and rather than creating an album of pretty navel-gazin’ trip-pop goodies, this time out Tosca is challenging tempos, taking on elements of nujazz and broken-beat music while weaving in a unique dubbed-out twist on the down-tempo genre.
The essence of Tosca’s prowess is how well they play the minimalist card and cultivate space in their music. Like inaugural releases from Mo’ Wax, Inflammable or Ninja Tune (and, of course, K7 and G-Stone), it’s the sparseness, not the symphonics, that creates the atmosphere, which ultimately draws the listener in. Rather than enlisting the services of stale-dated pop divas, Tosca constructs music around molasses-thick bass lines, with sparse vocal samples thrown in to vary their palette. With two engaging spoken-word tracks, "Wonderful" and "Me and Yoko Ono," Delhi 9 leaves the herd of contenders in their wake and colours the album in a distinctive shade of blue.
Most importantly for Tosca, Delhi 9 is not an obvious exploitation of the down-tempo genre. It’s not a sequel to Suzuki, nor is it filler attempting to placate anxious fans. It’s an album of compositions, not tracks, and it is their most complete work to date, coming on subtly and with a whispered grace. It stays with you, floating easily through much of the down-tempo ether, altering course while gently connecting the sub-genre dots.
While they could have simply created an album of variations on "Chocolate Elvis" (the track used for an American car commercial), they’ve departed ever so slightly from standard mid-tempo arrangements. In doing so, they have created something both familiar and fresh that runs exceptionally well on the calm waters of Bong Standard Time.
As an added bonus, there is also a disc of minimalist ambient piano compositions. While these sessions sound far from complete, they more than likely allude to the next phase in Tosca’s development.
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