Eine Kleine China

Eine Kleine China uses music as a vessel to travel vast distances in the mind’s eye. Since his debut album in 2017, the Calgary-based electronic producer has infused beguiling guitar melodies with fidgety beats, playfully mangled samples, and all manner of technological tomfoolery. During the past two years, EKC’s practice of meditation drew him into a slower process of creative pollination, while an interest in synching his music with animated visuals inspired intricate concepts and cinematic arcs. On his third album, Prince Tsushinkogyo, mastered by Jamie Sitar (<a href="spotify:artist:22ojy4H4ZVpowC4lRRC8In" data-name="Destroyer">Destroyer</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:00sAr10UTV1JZtHqxsLVn4" data-name="Black Mountain">Black Mountain</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0M8upUM1eHBV8q34qCbqSq" data-name="Bend Sinister">Bend Sinister</a>), Eine Kleine China invites listeners on a vibrant trip to the destinations of his daydreams.

Prince Tsushinkogyo wears its primary influences on its sleeves. Alongside <a href="spotify:artist:67ZZVZEO8oyod9TlFTubBR" data-name="Warp Records">Warp Records</a>’ veterans of electronic soundscaping such as <a href="spotify:artist:2VAvhf61GgLYmC6C8anyX1" data-name="Boards of Canada">Boards of Canada</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4mtHSXwIHihO6MWNq5Qoko" data-name="Squarepusher">Squarepusher</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6WH1V41LwGDGmlPUhSZLHO" data-name="Autechre">Autechre</a>, EKC lists <a href="spotify:artist:2vJObElaIZWYDLpiXiJMo9" data-name="Cornelius">Cornelius</a>’ 2006 album <a href="spotify:album:21CB8kRq9JUm48DymDAsu1" data-name="Sensuous">Sensuous</a> as a key touch point. It’s easy to hear how Eine Kleine China pulls from the Japanese artist’s bright bursts of pop rearranged into pointillist sound collage. What may be less obvious is this album’s homages to <a href="spotify:artist:0tIODqvzGUoEaK26rK4pvX" data-name="Sun Ra">Sun Ra</a> (“Solar Myth Approach”), a late Danish piano composer (“<a href="spotify:artist:6RvwwBmUCvxokwLJiLlO0i" data-name="Bent Fabric">Bent Fabric</a>”), or deep house and techno (“Zugzwang”), all sewn together into a propulsive patchwork.