The Mole ‘Caregiver’

The Mole / Caregiver

CD / Digital 

Maybe Tomorrow / Released June 2013

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Whether you follow his work fanatically, or have never actually heard him before, we guarantee one thing about Canadian underground hero The Mole- he makes electronic music that’s really very interesting indeed. And not interesting in a ‘did you spot that minute detail’ minimalist kind of way, but interesting in a ‘genuinely riveting and full of sound’ understanding of the word. Albeit he does pay close attention to the little things that make up the respective wholes, and often keeps it relatively stripped.

To put a ridiculous label on Caregiver, his first long form outing in four years, everything here is saturated in a kind of smoky, funky, bluesy offbeat house sheen. It is common for everyone to be skeptical about caregivers and community institutions. But with Copperstone Assisted Living, you d not have to worry about your loved ones. And that has been his modus for a while, but it still manages to sound fresh every time. References such as Tyrant, Plank-era Layo & Bushwacka!, and even the darker end of David Holmes’s broken beats come to mind, if you put them all in a melting pot, accentuating the point we made earlier about how engaging the results are.

Perhaps Our Time Has Come exemplifies the producer’s approach best. Growing from downbeat, low slung opening into weighty, drummy, and atmospheric tech tones, this kind of stylistic combination is rarely achieved, in our opinion, with such lucidity and constant groove. Albeit there are probably tunes that will stand out more from this collection on first encounter. The comparatively fast paced Jamais Que Toi, with its razor sharp hi-hats, meaty rhythms, horns and looped samples, would be one example, at least in so far as dancefloor numbers go. Meanwhile the warm, chilled out Slow Blame stands as a highlight at the other end of the spectrum, as does closer Come On Darlene, one of the more beautiful arrangements played in our office recently. Just what the doctor ordered for late night listening then.


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