Various Artists

The four tracks on the Friends From the Bar EP actually do sound like an attempt to capture a meeting at a bar somewhere — in Berlin, maybe. If there is an overarching style here, it seems to be one that synthesizes house, ambient and downtempo. Kaster Cordalis's "Soul Romance"...

By Tom Murphy

April 3, 2014

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The four tracks on the Friends From the Bar EP actually do sound like an attempt to capture a meeting at a bar somewhere — in Berlin, maybe. If there is an overarching style here, it seems to be one that synthesizes house, ambient and downtempo. Kaster Cordalis's "Soul Romance" favors bright and soothing tones, while "The Nod," by Roger That, reveals That's penchant for crafting rhythms that include tightly constructed yet fluid bass lines. On "Barbelle," Walker employs a unique array of sounds and percussive elements, and Beaner's "Tool of Subjugation" is grounded in modern drum-and-bass, with a luminous sonic quality.

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Tom Murphy is a writer, visual artist and musician from Aurora, Colorado. He was a prolific music writer for Westword and a documenter of the Denver music scene.

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Twitter: @simianthinker