Elucidate - Tune Balloon

Channeling vivacious vibes and pure production wizardry over the last three years and counting, Wisconsin-native Garth Winter has been gradually honing in his craft as a multi-faceted songwriter and producer through his Elucidate project. With releases featured across labels such as Digital Womp, Glitch Hop Community, and Wormhole Music Group, he’s far from a stranger to contemporary bass music, and his newest material, the Tune Balloon EP, is exactly what it’s title suggests; absolute tomfoolery with plenty of force and a professional polish. 

In a niche of fairly dark, sometimes emotionally rigid electronic music, it’s refreshing to hear how loose the tracks on Tune Balloon really are. The production and engineering quality are pointedly top notch, but the attitude is remarkably jovial, even curious at times. It’s hard to envision anything other than the throes of a fantastical circus while tuning in to the EP’s contents, and that’s perhaps the core strength of the two tracks; the finessed sound design and arrangement are really just vessels for the imagery.

“Tune Balloon” and “Blowin Smoke” both share voluptuous textures and prominent downbeats, but are distinct in their place within the EP’s carnie-inspired mental mosaic. “Tune Balloon” has the feel of data losing its place in the stream, only to find its way back after being slingshotted by spring-powered bass patches. The turn of every phrase maintains the track’s character, with each pulse of the low end feeling as muscle-bound as it is dynamic. Pairing together like cannabis and a Kevin Smith film, “Tune Balloon” is complimented by the unhinged composition of “Blowin Smoke”. One can’t help but follow along the intrepid journey of synthesis and percussion, and the sense of a deepening rabbit hole has rarely felt more lucid. Farther and farther down the hole, each sonic layer folds into the stereo space like knee-high boot laces, neatly tying together through their respective lanes. The whole musical dynamic begs the question of whether or not Elucidate has spent significant time under the spell of Barnum and Bailey’s Best Show on Earth. 

Electronic music is, at its best point, the same neural journey as all music before it, through digital articulation. The fast-paced, brain-scintillating nature of the evolution of sound design can be enough to mollify audiophiles searching for a quick, constant fix, but impressionable music almost always shares the central cornerstone that is potent composition. Elucidate spares no effort in following suite, tailoring the edges and innards of his songs until there’s an amenable balance of timbre and phrasing. If you’re looking for full service musical experience, Tune Balloon is sure to satiate any magnitude of craving.

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