CD, Electr-Ohm, 2005
www.cavestudio.com
“An Impulse of Acoustic” spans realms from IDM to ambient, crunchy glitches to delicate drones. Japanese synthesizer guru Sunao Inami modestly understates the album’s title, as he embarks not on a mere impulse, but on a lengthy voyage of hypnotic proportions. The predominant techno-minimalist instrumentation parallels that of Richie Hawtin and Dominik Eulberg, though the overall sound falls rather far from the proverbial beat-driven tree itself. Instead, imagine that Inami sets a course similar to electro-minimal devotee Hugo Girard (Vromb), yet with sharper percussive sails and an abundance of stretched, grumbling bass stowed in the holds below deck.
Eye-catching on the album sleeve, “Denomination” is over twenty minutes in length – by far the longest of the nine tracks on “Impulse.” It begins in heady and mystical ambience, with waves of melodic drone and crackling undertones eventually giving way to psychedelic machine stuttering and slow-motion permutations of clicks and rumbles. Later these sounds are mirrored in the chirping and morphing of the oddly unsettling (and aptly named) “Precision,” which in turn builds into new atmospheres and abstract cadences consistent with Inami’s inspiration. “Urchin” and “Quarantine” are funky -heavy and syrupy with rhythmic indulgences. The pulsing grooves they feature are downright infectious, opening channels to the imposing, broken mechanics of “Rectifier” and the shimmering strangeness of “Convolution.”
From “Open” to “Close” there is without doubt an ancient and spiritual element buried deep within Inami’s constructions. “An Impulse of Acoustic” is a masterful incentive that propels the listener along astonishing vistas and lurks in hidden shrines of stone and moss.
[9/10]
— Dutton Hauhart