The Alfur EP is the second in the trilogy of records written by individual members of the Old Apparatus collective, which will be released in three month-by-month instalments. Alfur, produced by A. Levitas, offers a view of the rusted Old Apparatus universe from another angle, a suite of songs that weave together deep feeling and influence into a complex and very listenable EP, built for deep listening at loud volumes. Alfur is a mystical, deeply atmospheric five track set, recalling the spooked ambience of Third Eye Foundation and earlier Tricky material, with gauzy layers filtered through electronica and hip hop’s modern digital mechanics.
The EP opens with the ambient birdsong, skewered chorales, and stumbling beats of ‘Boxcat’, then slides into ‘Schwee’ with its hazy stew of chilly, sustained chords, pitchshifted vocals and smudgy kicks.
Opening side two, ‘Cauliroot’ mixes shimmering distant bells, jungle atmospherics, dubbed out drums and big bass.
Next, ‘Coalapps’ sounds like the rainy shoegaze of Slowdive or Jesu rubbing up against 2-step influenced electronica, before ‘Lingle’ closes proceedings with lulling pitchshifted loops of voices over a slow, marching beat, marking a strange and dreamy outro to another great addition to the increasingly remarkable Old Apparatus canon.