Automotive – The Digil Parker Project (Couchblip)

Automotive are an incredibly prolific Dutch duo who also operate under a bunch of other names (Funckarma/Quench/Cane) in other styles, though here are intent on existing somewhere in the dreamy ether that separates jazz and electronics. Drawing upon ambient jazz, post rock, and soundtrack influences the duo craft some incredibly atmospheric tunes, dark drifting evocative sonic worlds -music that effectively creeps, albeit in a heavily reverbed manner, under the radar. Utilising saxophone, clarinet and electric bass alongside some very tastefully (read sparingly) used downtempo electronic beats, the music feels quite loose, possibly partly improvised and as such seems to posses a certain elongated sense of freedom. It’s the kind of music that you can put on and forget you’re listening to music. That’s not to say however that their purpose is solely to appease. Whilst their palette and mood do manage to achieve this, structurally it’s all quite bold, often remarkably experimental. And it’s this unique ability to marry these two worlds that proves fascinating. In fact much of the Digil Parker Project is about merging seemingly disparate worlds, such as the analogue and the electronic or the atmospheric and the electro funk. Recorded over the space of three years the music is deceptively simple, yet it reveals itself over time and is one of those obscure finds that you’ll find yourself continually drawn back to.