Rambadu – Ajna

Rambadu – Ajna

(Hypnus, 2021-06-24)

Many “full-moons” have followed each other before the release of “Ajna”, and Hypnus still lives up to the hype that surrounds the label since its early years. At the source of the success: the label’s impressive discography, admittedly, but – also and mainly – the leadership of our dear Michel, wizard, alchemist, poet, philosopher, astrologist, cosmonaut, gladiator.

With his extreme creativity, his great community spirit and his critical ear, Michel is – and we all know it – Hypnus’ support column. To the question “What are the qualities you’re looking for in potential new artists to sign?”, he answered:

First of all, besides conforming somehow to our sound, the person’s music should have an immediately gripping sensation of authenticity. (…) Equally important; the person should be humble and have his or her heart in the right place. (…) (Orb Mag, 2019)

The label’s impressive discography comes first and foremost from Michel selecting wisely his artists, being a great specialist in discovering new talents. Didn’t he have a particularly good nose when signing Luigi Tozzi and Feral, just to give obvious examples?

It’s not “easy” to join Hypnus, so when Michel approves a new artist, such as Rambadu, chances are that we are facing a coming game changer. It’s with such a high expectation – however unintentionally – that we hit play on “Ajna”. The discovery is even better than expected.

There is not a lot of information about Rambadu: not only his moniker has Hindi flavours, but the Rotterdam-based artist actually travels for real to places such as Kathmandu in Nepal, bringing back strange Tibetan instruments, such as a horn called “the Doeng” and some ritualistic singing bowls. Rambadu has only produced two EPs before “Ajna”, but showing already very promising skills, which inspired Luigi Tozzi to do a remix.

A funny – questionable – comparison: “Rambadu” could be the symbolic contraction of “Raroh”, another talented artist of hypnotic techno, and “Rhadoo”, well-known for his forestal micro-house. The comparison is not innocent: there is a bit of both in Rambadu’s subtle music, but that’s probably extrapolating too much. However, qualifying the artist’s music as “subtle” is the least to say: “Anja”‘s tracks reach a level of subtlety and calmness rarely heard from a fresh newcomer, confirming this idea that we are dealing with an aspiring grand – very grand – artist, worth to remember.

WRITING BY: CEDRIC FINKBEINER | 28 JUNE 2021

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