Djrum - Under Tangled Silence

this album is incredible

I don't know anything about this guy. I'm not sure I ever listened to the one from last year that made the EOY poll, but I'm finally checking this out right now and it's the best thing I've heard all year

He's great, excellent producer and a very interesting DJ (virtuoso in a good way?), but for some reason I still haven't felt like listening to the new one.

https://ra.co/features/4403

It's definitely a lot to take in and trying to describe it I worry it sounds tedious or confusing (it's grandiose but condensed, sprawling but focused, beautiful but jarring, etc.).

thanks for the link, I'm super curious about him

yeah this album is indeed incredible, thank you for starting this thread.

don't miss last year's album meaning's edge, which is also incredible but in a totally different way (less warmth, more meticulous, ear-tickling sound design)

Yeah, Meaning's Edge is one of the best electronic albums I've heard in years, it's almost sonata-like in the way everything is repeated and variated. New one is really good as well. It's just longer, less tightly structured, and I miss the flutes :(

This is probably my #1 album of this year. Loved Meaning's Edge but the more chilled/IDM vibe of this one is even more up my street.

Galaxy In Silence is straight up amazing.

did this conjure clove ciggies for anyone else? just missing an a!

Yes was about to post that the name messing with me because it suggests both cloves (just missing an a!) and the shag tobacco (just a surplus j) at the same time and i don’t know if which way i should read it, it’s that rabbit-duck illusion.

fwiw it's pronounced "drum"

Brb adding an extra j to my name to confuse ppl

La Ljechera from now on please

https://ra.co/features/4403

― Jordan s/t (Jordan), Wednesday, October 22, 2025 12:19 PM (five hours ago)

this was really good, thanks! (despite my not knowing much at all about DJing)

Love this album very much. Look up his set INSIDE Tower Bridge during lockdown - or I can link it here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGa2Ta685ys There's a few videos of him demonstrating process of mashing up styles and tempos with clever transitions and juxtapositions. Very skilled.

His Essential Mix from earlier in the year is insane. 64 tracks in 2 hours on 3 decks, all vinyl

https://m.soundcloud.com/houndstoothlbl/2025-03-29-djrum-bbc-radio-1-essential-mix-soundboard-tongless-version

^ man that's so good

Saw him in SF on the triple deck vinyl setup and it was incredible. If he's anywhere near you check him out

might prefer last years but yeh great record

I preferred Under Tangled Silence because it's so casually "oh, btw, i'm also a classically trained pianist".
And it has a satisfying progression from more piano-forward tracks to 4 full-on bangers at the end.

Ok I finally listened and it's sick. Actually fuck him, he's too talented and well-rounded.

I dunno. Is it maybe (hides) a bit bland?

Lots of it reminds me of NJaar's Space Is only Noise. Which is great. Some of it reminds me of Moby.

I will try it again another time

I think the only thing that came to mind for me was Third Eye Foundation, but I'm kind of a dilettante in this area

It's def on the home listening/coffee table side, not a club record, even though he clearly has a deep connection to that music. The drums are pretty polite. But I think there's some pretty crazy rhythmic stuff happening too, especially near the end of the record (Three Foxes Chasing Each Other is definitely my fave, I made a mental note to give that a deeper listen).

With the fast bpms it's sort of like neoclassical Aphex, or if RDJ married the piano and breaks sides of Drukqs.

Lovely stuff

Jordan - the track you mentioned was nice. I'm not sure I'll ever remember to listen to it again.

i tried with this but i'm just not feeling it.

It's def on the home listening/coffee table side, not a club record, even though he clearly has a deep connection to that music. The drums are pretty polite.

i think that's accurate. i'd make the further statement that it's kind of wallpaper-y, but i realize that's entirely subjective.

I think the pianos are algorithms, not played? Love the flow of the album in and out of spastic beats and drifting melodies. Here's one of the process videos --

oops here is the link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKfy0uzQpfA

His djing is totally separate from his production process, pretty sure he does play piano.

it's quantized though right? is that a really ancient term lol

he's no patrice

sez Piano, harp, mbira, percussion - Felix Manuel plus it doesn't sound quantized to me at all

anyway this is great, so far like the first half better tho.

Oh I'm sure there's editing and looping manipulation involved, it's electronic music after all. Like the kalimba is obviously sequenced. But some (not all) of the piano passages feel fairly naturalistic, or at least based on a performance rather than midi-programmed. I wasn't really thinking of it in those terms though, feels like he wants to blur the organic and programmed elements together.

(and even classical records can be edited and comp'ed to death these days, so I hear)

An acquaintance who has produced some pretty popular metal bands told me a few years ago that 99% of the drums on metal records nowadays are triggered, which made me feel depressed and disillusioned, so yeah, I imagine classical music takes similar liberties. I mean, why not, I guess?

Based on this video, it sounds like he plays instruments then does lots of extreme processing on them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyMDZZ8-qKg

Triggered metal drums doesn't mean that they're not played, just that they can get a much bigger and more consistent sound then what they may actually be putting out (or have the ability to record well). I'm sure there's tons of editing too.

Almost all records are a simulation of performance to a degree and I love a lot of highly constructed music, but that's alsi one reason I listen to so much jazz. Sometimes it's nice to listen to humans playing and the nature of the music means that they're all actually playing at the same time. Maybe they'll stitch together two group takes but that's about it.

i think what put me off about this is i wasn't hearing any tension. like, working within a state of tension. i was hearing more ebb and flow of decorative elements. i feel like i hear that a lot with electronic artists. they kind of build these pretty little sculpture in their daw. everything sort of smooth and considered and fluttery. the drums vary enough but they don't feel like they're on fire? artists who get tension / release and how minimalism works can make that so compelling to me. i like a bigger, more solid frame of reference for percussive electronic music. artists who really work within a frame. maybe that's unfair and there is a core i'm missing to this. i will give it another chance at some point. i've liked a few of his tracks in the past. but i remember i eventually felt the same thing with those and they didn't end up sticking for me.

xp i'm bringing this up as, like, a counter-example just because i've been listening to them a lot lately but autechre are a great example of artists who can "play live" with processed sounds. who really work through some gnarly and beautiful shit in a compelling way.

He feels like a singular artist to me. So unique and so passionate about the whole thing. A life surrounded by music and beats and records from childhood. I'm also a sucker for smashed and crushed beats with piano drowning in effects so that should also be factored in.

I think that's a very fair criticism, map. For something much more visceral, did you listen to the aya album from this year?

Had a considerable upgrade today, traded in some Grimes and Roisin Murphy and had enough to cover a vinyl copy of this.

i think what put me off about this is i wasn't hearing any tension. like, working within a state of tension. i was hearing more ebb and flow of decorative elements. i feel like i hear that a lot with electronic artists. they kind of build these pretty little sculpture in their daw. everything sort of smooth and considered and fluttery. the drums vary enough but they don't feel like they're on fire? artists who get tension / release and how minimalism works can make that so compelling to me. i like a bigger, more solid frame of reference for percussive electronic music. artists who really work within a frame. maybe that's unfair and there is a core i'm missing to this. i will give it another chance at some point. i've liked a few of his tracks in the past. but i remember i eventually felt the same thing with those and they didn't end up sticking for me.

This translates to "where's the drop?" to me haha

But in all seriousness, you're not wrong. Go back and listen to Portrait for Firewood and you'll hear that tension in spades.

That said, I do really like his new one, but it scratches a different kinda itch than I normally want him to scratch, but that's a me problem

I’m hearing this guy out of context of his earlier work, to me it sounds closer to future jazz or…otherworldly classical, idk. It’s so beautifully produced, it just sounds amazing.