Sebastian Ehmke and Tympanik Audio present us a rather unexpected release. To my mind, this work of SE contrasts a little bit on the background of the records released by this label earlier. Epiphora is not the overflowing emotions or gushing energy, but contemplation of daybreak, cold snow-covered plains and thoughts of something dissimilar and unachievable. Some tracks ("I Need A Medic", "No Need For Voices") are a psychedelic trip through the universe corners. In general, the sounding of Epiphora associates for me with cosmic theme. You are occupied by the images of distant planets, mists of fanciful shapes and galaxies. I think this music would be a perfect accompaniment for a film like "2001: A Space Odyssey". On the other hand, Epiphora can be taken as mental trip deep into yourself, an attempt to research your mind and feelings.From the very first track "Komplex_a" with the help of its mysterious ambient motif and otherworldly noises Epiphora makes a listener feel in a definite way. The next track "15mg" is, to my mind, one of the central themes of the record. Soft pads and gentle piano drops seem to stop the time round you, leaving you one on one with music. An excellent track! Its notable also because it sounds as if it was mixing the oldschool ambient by label Fax style and modern idm sounding, and this is the tendency of the whole album in general. There is something in it that makes you remember music of 90s, especially it concerns "I Need A Medic". Epiphora is a rather integral thing and perhaps only "Null" stands out of general picture due to its faster beat and some playful mood. Though it doesn't spoil the impressions after listening to the whole album.
In conclusion, and perhaps it has become a tradition already, on Tympanik Audio we are offered the remixes by the other musicians. Flaque, Quench and unfamiliar to me project DNN presented their works. And, as it often happens, they turned to be not worse than the originals. Especially I liked the interpretation of track "23R0 & TH3 5T4R5" by Florian Ziller (Flaque). Yes, this guy is good at consulting beat and not only beat. In this remix something reminding of Kattoo in the times of "Places" can be heard. The remixes by Quench and DNN for "15mg" also leave pleasant impressions. As usual, Funcken brothers lay their fooling electronics which turned to combine with almost ambient "15mg" very well. DNN doesn't differ much with the original in the way of sounding. Having added only a little bit of sentimentality it made you take the track in different emotional manner. I think it's a good idea of placing this track exactly at the end of the record.
Epiphora is not only searching for new sounds or ideas, but also masterly usage of old and already proved methods. The album can hardly be called outstanding, though there's something special in it.
- Tympanik Audio