As both Golden Donna and Auscultation, Joel Shanahan has been producing various shades of lo-fi, atmospheric techno, and house since the early 2010s. The third Auscultation album, and the project's first vinyl release, appears on longtime home 100% Silk, and fits within that label's aesthetic of lush, homespun dance music. As breezy and windswept as the album seems, there's still a great degree of complexity to the IDM-ish rhythms of "Glowing Hearts in the Rainbow Room" and the stop-start trickery of "Fool"; these also happen to be the two longest tracks on the release. Others, such as "Flottant," may have calming synth pads and measured 4/4 kick drums, but the beat patterns are still slightly broken, and the melodies are a bit more worked up than they might seem at first. "Purgatory Sway" has a darker aura to it, as if you're blissing out by yourself at a club and trying not to notice the creep wearing a Jason Voorhees mask at the other end of the room. "Turn Down These Voices" is the album's most heavenly moment, with glittering arpeggios rising to the top as sighing vocals are looped underneath. The whole album maintains the feeling of a bit of buckled-up tension as well as a steady flow of release, and that dynamic elevates it beyond being merely a washed-out soundtrack for escapism.
© Paul Simpson /TiVo