Silk

Whoever believe that electro is all body-popping breaks and cold robot maneuvers ought to give George Pallikaris a listen. On this full-length for Germany's Electrolux label, the Greek producer slows the typical electro drums down to a languid beat that is clearly meant for mood, not groove. Perhaps such a divergent take on electro could only be accomplished by an outsider, not tied to the standards and methods of typical electro. Yet considering Pallikaris's day job as tech-house producer G-Pal for the Bedrock and Plastic City labels, this shift in mood is still a shocking change of form.

More than a mood swing, Pallikaris uses the mellower rhythms to stretch his wings as a producer, introducing a crystalline guitar and piano refrain on "Seaside" that would have shattered under the pressure of his dance oriented work. "Woman" shrouds itself in full flavored ambience like a dark lipgloss while "Asian Foundation" does a superb job in conjuring a cinematic image of water flowing past ancient Buddhist, temples without resorting to any cliché Asiatic instrumentation. "Vourvourou" does lift a Jamaican upbeat from the island's reggae sound, but said rhythm has become nearly universal in downtempo electronic. Silk expertly contradicts any preconceptions about the clinical precision of electro, techno or Pallikaris' usual recordings.