DISKRET – A SOUND BROUGHT BACK FROM A MOUNTAIN

We actually reached out to interview these cats, but then it turned out that we already have. Well, kinda. One half of Diskret is producer and Quiet Love label head James Varghese (the other half being Ramon Ziegler), and we talked to James when Jan Wagner’s stunning Nummern LP dropped just a minute back. Because guess what? Yes sir, he done produced that one too. I’m very sorry fellas, but we’ll have to speak next time.

I don’t know if I’ve convinced myself into it after the fact – the mind is a powerful thing you see – but I swear that I can hear James’ production touch all over Odes. The sound is warm and soft, very pleasant to the ear (also because Jan mixed it). The arrangement is balanced and has that natural flow to it. And everything comes exactly when it should, as if the song moved to some immaculate inner clock. But in contrast to Jan’s release, Odes is nowhere nearly as minimal. Plus, it’s brighter, sort of like virgin snow on a sunny day – and the melancholy of Nummern gave way to a sense of wonder and a touch of mild optimism.

Ironically, the press release says that the project in fact started up in the Swiss mountains, where James and Ramon were snowed in for days. Unable to leave the cabin, they got lost in a seamless, trance inducing jam session. And while passing time fiddling with their hardware and jamming out over some tasty fondue, they somehow created a full EP. This, they only realised once they finally descended back to civilisation and listened to the accrued recordings.

Odes is the perfect song for the coming season. It’s a soundtrack to daydreaming or a deeper autumn / winter type of introspection. It’s also the type of music that you can bump on a lonely, late-night drive. And the video, simple as it is, has a very hypnotic quality to it, in other words: it’s the perfect supplement to a good spliff!

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