Familie Seelig: 95-01

From the thriving downtempo scene of Vienna comes Familie Seelig, the moniker under which duo Alexander Kellas and Daniel Sack work their slinky, moody magic. 95-01 is chock-full of thick, deliberate hip-hop breaks that form the base for their downtempo textures. An eerie atmosphere permeates the record, as if the tracks have been marinated in the dark, gray skies and reclusive winters of Europe. "Freunde" creates an underwater world with a vague dub sensibility and drops vocal snippets so low down in the mix that they sound like whispers in your ear. This otherworldly downtempo atmosphere is a constant throughout, manifested in the contrast between the down-to-earth, primal rhythms of the breakbeats and the variety of tweaked out sampler and synth originated effects. The duo displays a natural ability to build momentum with the addition of new layers of sound and rhythm. To the electro-induced space invader bleeps of "Biofeedback", they add East Indian instrumentation, while "Fuzzed" develops its synthed-out bass line into a fractured drum n’ bass pattern by the end of the track. Familie Seelig takes downtempo into thoughtful, more complex territory. Downtempo fiends looking for a moodier atmosphere and a more textured sound can’t go wrong with this one.