Reviews

MIXMAG

October 2007 Lackluster - Repulsine EP (SLSK Records) 'Esa Ruoho has been making electronica since the mid 90's and it shows. This - on the label of the download engine Soulseek - could easily of come from a Warp compilation circa 1993, but that dosen't detract from the fact that the rippling synth arpeggios and glimmering beats sound absolutely lush. Slightly hippie-ish, maybe but warm, melodic and definately lush.' (3 out of 5)

Gridface

January 2007 - Lackluster: Repulsine EP Slsk, 2007 Another lovely melodic release from the prolific Esa Ruoho. The sounds are straight-forward, but the tunes can be quite intricate. (3 out of 5)

Gonzo Circus #80 - Old Style Rabbit Tales of Furry Fury

English (translation by Sietse van Erve):
The quiet Finn Esa Ruoho aka Lackluster, is still putting out electronica steps in the snow. Soulseek is not only a glacier for free downloads, but also has its own label. As a Soulseek veteran, Esa can now let his digital bytes resound. Under his feet the freezing cold groans and cracks. Crackling bits of ice break and slide from each other. The synth tones accommodate a beautiful winter landscape that is at the edge of spring, ready to change its natural skin. Snowdrops tinkle on the measure of the music, because spring is a cute and moving season and the Lackluster sound goes along with that in a good way. In "LL060205" this feeling is carried out to the smallest detail. Good for a cup of warm cocoa, cozy with a fairytale book on the lap. Think of the elektronica from Iceland and Scotland, spots where time stands still and muscial tones are good-natured and melancholy. An extra note can be added; the collection of tunes has been made in urban Dublin, the trendy Shoreditch, London and the deserted prairie of Saskatchewan, Canada. That Esa can make such a coherent piece of music in such diverse environments testifies to a spirit full of amazement and playful magic. This is very nice laptop music, which with its warmth has obtained a place in the home.

original:
De stille fin Esa Ruoho alis Lackluster blijft ongestoord zijn uiteenlopende electronicastappen in de sneeuw zetten. Soulseek is niet enkel een gletsjer van gratis download, maar heeft ook een eigen label en als SLSK oudgediende mag Esa daarom zijn digitale bytes laten weerklinken. Onder zijn voeten kraakt en kreunt de vrieskou. Knisperende stukjes ijs breken en glijden uit elkaar. De synthtonen herbergen een mooi winterlandschap dat aan de rand van de lente staat klaar om van natuurlijke plunje te wisselen. Sneeuwklokjes tingelen mee op de maat van de muziek, want de lente is nu eenmaal een lief en aandoenlijk jaargetijde en het lackluster geluid gaat daar daar heel goed in mee. In "LL060205" wordt dit gevoel tot in de puntjes uitgevoerd, goed voor een kop warme choco, knus met een sprookjesboek op schoot. Denk aan de elektronica uit IJsland en Schotland, plekken waar de tijd stilstaat en de tonen zachtaardig en melancholisch zin. Als extra noot is te vertellen dat deze collectie deuntjes zijn gemaakt in volks Dublin, het trendy Shoreditch in Londen en de afgelegen prairiestreek van Saskatchewan in Canada. Dat Esa op zulke uiteenlopende plekken toch een sterk samenhangende sfeer heeft kunnen grijpen getuigt van een geest vol verwondering en speelse magie. Dit is betoverend leuke laptop muziek die de warmte terug in huis heeft gehaald. (Seb Bassleer)

Textura

Repulsine, Esa Ruoho's sixteenth Lackluster release, takes its inspiration from Viktor Schauberger, an echo-technology pioneer who created the Repulsine (a nature-mimicking machine that produces energy by encouraging a centripetal, inwardly-spiraling movement of water or air that, ideally, enables the Repulsine to levitate) as a vehicle for manifesting the belief. Of course, being wholly instrumental, the half-hour EP's graceful IDM can just as easily be broached on its own terms minus the conceptual backing (though the spiraling melodic character of the tracks does draw a connection to Schauberger's idea) and handles itself perfectly well if done so. Composed in Ireland, England, and Saskatchewan, the six songs are suitably sunny in spirit (in keeping with the Utopian positivity Ruoho gleans from the writings of Schauberger, Tesla, Buckminster Fuller, etc.) and exude the kind of unsullied innocence and joy one associates with childhood (conveyed most vividly in the see-sawing flow of "Yoggi"). Glistening arcade melodies and jubilantly skipping beats set the tone in the three-minute overture "Hmainham," a spirit perpetuated by the heavenward spiral of gleaming melodic patterns in "TKB" and in Repulsine's other four pieces.

Cyclic Defrost

Over the last decade, Finnish electronic producer Lackluster (real name Esa Ruoho) has grown to become one of the leading lights amongst the global IDM scene, and this 16th release in total from him arrives on the Soulseek network's new SLSK label imprint - in fact, it's only the second release for the fledgling label. Apparently inspired by the theoretical writings of visionary thinker Viktor Schauberger, the six tracks collected together on Repulsine represent an ode by Ruoho to water in all of its myriad forms. As the liner notes here elaborate, Schauberger's central contention was that life is sustained by a gathering, inwards type of movement, and the 'repulsine' concept was his way of physically manifesting his theory. In this case, a repulsine is a machine that mimics the methods of nature, creating energy by encouraging a centripetal, inwardly spiraling movement of water or air. Absolute straight lines are rarely a natural occurrence, therefore the repulsine mimics the curved lines that are the mainstay of our natural environment. The above conceptual conceit is certainly evident in several of the tracks here, which fittingly were produced while Ruoho was on the move between England, Ireland, Canada and his native Finland.

Opening track 'Hmainham' is certainly emblematic of the above conceptual themes, indeed, its soft-focus, drifting ambient synth-pad motifs and effortlessly gliding minimalist broken rhythms aptly recall the lazy ebb and flow of liquid in motion, a rhythmic trajectory that's nicely picked up on by the considerably more brooding 'TKB', which winds ascending melodic elements through a relentless web of refracted-sounding synth tones and clattering broken polyrhythms. In many senses though the two aforementioned tracks represent the most intriguing inclusions here, with much of the remainder of the tracklisting occupying a somewhat middle of the road utopian-sounding IDM furrow that sadly doesn't really add very much to the established genre - 'One Cycle (More)'s fairly anodyne fusion of wistful glacial synth tones and fractured, snapping broken beats being a case in point. While Repulsine certainly offers plenty of pleasant diversions throughout its 32 minute running length, given Lackluster's formidable reputation amongst the contemporary IDM genre, I must admit to expecting something a little more 'out of the box.'(Chris Downton)