In 2023, Taavi Tulev introduced his new album “Äike / Thunder” in Tallinn’s coveted record shop Biit. For the LP, Tulev had collected field recordings of two thunderstorms in August 2017, which sounded both extravagant and hazardous. After such nature-bound minimalism, the Estonian artist now takes the next ride under the HAPE moniker.
While ‘hape’ in Estonian means ‘acid’, the five-track EP on the Finnish label EABE is for electro and synth heads, seen through the artist’s playful prism. Sterile Dopplereffekt-type chords open “Music Made of Sounds”, before being overrun by swaying sequences and stuttering stabs. Almost floral, easy-going braindance “Messages” captures early telecom traffic without any sorrows down the road. My pick is “Serious Business”: It begins in vintage manner, close to Problem House’s sawtooth mania, while ethereal basis helps to maintain a lighter atmosphere. The year 2009 may sound cutely old-fashioned, as does the electro pop track with the same title. Soft-spoken “Summer Night With Batida De Coco” is an episode of melancholic electro, which clinches the beauty contest of the EP.
Earlier, Tulev has worked with projects Wochtzchée and Laulan Sinule (‘I’m Singing To You’). With Jako Krull, he nowadays runs Plasma Blotter, engaged in modular and caustic madness.