Responsible for founding the Feral Media label in 2002, which he still continues to co-manage alongside Greg Stone, Daniel Jumpertz is likely familiar to many Cyclic Defrost readers through his band projects Plankton and Alpen. Following his relocation from Sydney to New York in 2010, he’s remained no less busy, whether as Alpen alongside the aforementioned Greg Stone (who released their gorgeous ‘Inside The Sky’ album in 2011), or as a member of Clairaudience, his Stateside band these days. While he’s been responsible for a fair bit of music during the last decade and a half though, this latest EP on Feral Media ‘Dream Worlds’ represents the first time that Jumpertz has released a record under his given name.
It’s a development that certainly hints at the personal nature of the music contained here. Indeed, at least one of the five tracks collected here dates back twenty years to when Jumpertz was writing with a 4 track recorder in Erskineville, illustrating just how long he’s been carrying some of this music in his head. It’s that very track, ‘Dream In Grey’ that opens this collection, offering up one of the more overtly electronically-laced moments here as swelling analogue synths and drum machine rhythms bolster jangling indie guitars, vaguely New Order-esque bass bends and Jumpertz’s own resigned-sounding lead vocal, the moody atmosphere undercut by an electro-flavoured rhythmic breakdown near the end. ‘Change Down Your Shadow’ hails from the same vintage, and sees things getting more lush as Jumpertz’s reverb-treated vocals glide over brushed drums and acoustic guitar strokes, the addition of eerie whistling synths injecting a vaguely unsettling undertone as shimmering electronic effects add a hazy edge.
‘People Are Afraid’, originally released on Alpen’s 2005 album ‘Overdub’, now appears in a more widescreen and layered incarnation as documentary samples discussing urban alienation float against an emotively post-rock backing of slow live drums, chiming guitar chords and treated horn textures that surges and builds to a spectacular yet melancholic climax. Elsewhere, ‘To See One’s Self From Above’, originally released on ‘Inside The Sky’ appears as a new version remixed by ex-DFA engineer Abe Selferth that sends looped echoes of jangling guitar, martial snare rolls and reversed instrumentation glinting in the ether as wordless vocal harmonies suddenly snap into focus as the live instrumentation rises into a crescendo. Gorgeous sci-fi future-pop meets post-rock that begs for a full album.
You can get ‘Dream Worlds’ on CD or as a free download from http://feralmedia.bandcamp.com/album/dream-worlds
