Album Review: Michael Claus – Realm
Album Review: Michael Claus – Realm
September 28, 2021
Adán Falcón
Contributing writer Adán Falcón reviews Michael Claus’s August release, Realm. “Michael Claus’ EP Realm, from its cover alone, has the feel of a post-apocalyptic sci-fi movie set to deep house.”
Album artwork via Bandcamp
Whereas his last full album, Arrival, sided with a quieter approach and more ambient explorations, Michael Claus’ EP Realm, from its cover alone, has the feel of a post-apocalyptic sci-fi movie set to deep house. There’s a certainty in his music in the way these tracks carefully navigate a submerged production as opposed to his more ambient efforts. From the start, the EP hits the ground running with heavier drum tracks and a grimier atmosphere.
Founder of the label Silva Electronics, Claus, and many of the releases in the label share a common thread of exploring techno, deep house and ambient. This EP comes as a surprise, though, given its gestation period happening between his more pensive albums, Memory Protect and Arrival. From the start, the big bass lines and drum tracks rumbling in the first track, “Realm”, rushes through with its acid house influence and clap sounds, reaching high energy levels during the last third of the song.
“Atmos Schematics” takes a jerkier turn as Claus explores a pace not far off from CM-4, who, along with Claus, co-founded the Bay Area party and record label, Outpost. Whereas CM-4 utilizes more samples and harder rhythms, Claus softens his approach, letting the synth lines breathe more as the song’s bass line softens the drum sequence.
The last two tracks share a common history, as they were originally taped back in 2017 and finally mixed this year, given a strong drone effect that adds to the sinister tone subdued in the first two tracks. “Baümer” especially stands out the most with a more playful time signature and gauzy production, lending to the sinister tone that makes this EP one of Claus’s more intriguing releases.
Adán Falcón (he/him) is a grad school dropout, writer, and live music fanatic. Nowadays, you can find him running long distance with a playlist of krautrock and early 2000's hip hop, and rummaging record stores for limited edition vinyl.