New York-based electronic producer Jeff Düngfelder emerged under his Ümlaut alias back in 2017 with his debut album ‘Vasco De Gama’, and two years on this download-only follow-up ‘Musique De Filme’ sees him joining the Audiobulb label roster. As with that preceding album, the 13 tracks collected veer between ambient, IDM and noise elements, with sometimes jarring results.
Opening track ‘Memory’ showcases this seemingly haphazard jump-cutting between moods and textures, as echoing glacial piano notes are suddenly overtaken by bursts of digitally processed noise, only for forlorn orchestration to sudden swell into focus at the very end amidst crackling layers of static.
‘Dot’ gets more atmospheric and ominous as brooding bass drones growl against long sustained melodic notes, the dark synth tones that spiral towards the track’s forefront against buzzing electrical hums suggesting a John Carpenter film score as coldly phased sweeps wash past in the background. Elsewhere, ‘Parrish’ peels away the more jagged elements in favour of an float through soft-focus ambient pads and elegantly abstracted piano arrangements, in what’s one of the rare moments of true stillness to be found here.
‘In-Out’ meanwhile contains one of the most inspired collisions of sounds here as dark ambient bass tones and and eerie background howls are suddenly overtaken by the percussive clatter of a sampled train, the layered textures blurring into a single onrush of cinematic textures. While it takes a few listens for Düngfelder’s intention to really reveal themselves amidst the occasionally seemingly chaotic fusions at play here, ‘Musique De Filme’ is worth your time.
