Lossmaker — Self Titled
Luke's debut 12" as Lossmaker is a short (as expected, given the format) exercise in light electronic music. Over the eighteen minute run time, there are some nice sounds presented, although each song tends to stand alone instead of working towards the whole. While that's something that generally irks me, I'm not going to get into it or let it affect my rating. With that caveat, let's get into the sounds. Lossmaker is softer and way less loop friendly than Torn Hawk. While the latter would open a release with deep drums and techno leanings, this project opts for pianos and violins. There's some extra crackle floating on top to give you that old timey record feel as well. "Melodrama Camp 3" ends with bass notes teaming up with the piano to really drive it home. The softness continues with "Mann Hires Haim For Sad Caper Film," but with a more traditional electronic approach. It mellows out and gets sad towards the end...poor Corey. While the closer, "Safari Embossed," is probably my favorite on the album, it also gives me the most grief. The drums are nice and there is a low synth and some really fuzzed out guitars that make the jam. The pacing is nice and the tone works very well. My issue, I guess, comes with the light synth notes. They seem very haphazard to me. You know when you're playing with a keyboard and slap together random notes, like it, but they're kinda weird? That's the vibe I get from this. Similarly, I kinda get that vibe on each song, just not as strong. It sorta feels like everything was done quickly and on the first try. I'm probably very wrong and sound like an ass, but that's the vibe I get.
Pleasant, soft, sometimes thoughtful, Lossmaker's self titled debut hits more marks than it misses. Unfortunately for me, it feels like it wasn't given enough time to mature and fully come together. This release shows promise for a new direction from Wyatt. With patience, I think the next Lossmaker release could really be something.