See Blue Audio: ambient / electronic / beatless / cinematic / downtempo / eclectic / introspective… Shade rather than light...

'Dash' – Bagaski (SBA #030)

If the closing release of 2021 on See Blue Audio, ‘Cold Sleet on Old Slate’ by Isolated Community, provided a musical depiction of the harsh and unforgiving beauty of winter, the same can also be said of its successor. Continuing this theme of light flickering through shadow and distant ghosts re-emerging, the thirtieth release on the label and the first of the new year sees the return of Bagaski with ‘Dash’. As alluded to in the title, this new release also represents a process of transformation for the artist.

Back in April 2020, the Berlin-based producer released his ‘Final’ album on See Blue Audio, and it added a further dimension to the label’s musical ethos of shade rather than light. Taking influences from lo-fi, exotica, vaporwave, synth noise, cold wave electronics and experimental soundscapes, ‘Final’ is an intensely atmospheric set of audio stories expressed through the aesthetics of the synthesizer. Since then, Bagaski has released the ‘Evoke*’ album on the Submarine Broadcasting Company label in November, and ‘Dash’ will be followed by another album for See Blue Audio in the spring. With this timeline, ‘Dash’ acts as a prelude to the forthcoming album: a chapter in the artist’s life is concluded and a new one can begin.

A dash is also a punctuation mark indicating an independent clause within a sentence, and this is a useful metaphor for the two tracks that comprise this release. Both are extended aural landscapes, beatless in form, and more expansive than previous releases, but they still retain the distinctive Bagaski sense of imagination and use of improvisation. His studio techniques make use of field recordings and samples as well as modular and digital synthesis.

The winter theme should not be taken too literally, however: as with all Bagaski releases the contrasting environments of Berlin and his childhood home of Crete provide equal inspiration. Long walks in nature also helped to shape these tracks, and the abrasive tones of ‘Debusian’ have a frosty quality evocative of forests in winter. At times misty and at others gothic, it takes a meandering path through strange lands, while celestial melodies float underneath.

‘Campan’, meanwhile, is more cinematic in character with its hypnotic haze and undulating synth waves, and it seems to portray a kind of spiritual metamorphosis. On both tracks, the feeing of transformation is evident throughout the music, even when it takes on a nihilistic edge and the future appears uncertain. Transformation as personal, physical, psychological, metaphysical... all gates are open.

‘Dash’ can be seen as the capturing of specific moments in space and time, and then putting the emotions they provoke into musical form. It can also be seen a signpost to future sonic explorations, which will be revealed on the next Bagaski album. In the meantime, these two pieces may provide solace and revelation as we wait for the depths of winter to pass.

Photography: Bagaski.