Koray Kantarcıoğlu - Loopworks 2 (2022)

A sequel to 2018's ace "Loopworks", Istanbul-based artist Koray Kantarcioğlu expands his scope from 1960s and '70s Turkish records to include vintage TV samples, new age tapes and jazz recordings. Properly haunted soundscapes for anyone into Nikolaienko, Philip Jeck, Ekin Fil, or The Caretaker.

Another killer from Discrepant, "Loopworks 2" advances Kantarcioğlu's method by allowing it to spread its wings somewhat. The producer is still using vintage loops to create queasy, quasi-nostalgic soundscapes, but his sounds have been pulled from a wider range of sources, entrenching the album in a hard-to-place out-zone rather than (specifically) 1970s Turkey. So lengthy opener '1982 / Nepa 01' works as an introduction to Kantarcioğlu's new landscape, using filtered new age synths to echo the 1980s DIY cassette scene without sticking too closely to the established rulebook. Kantarcioğlu's process is unsettling: he's subtle but uses noisy, reverberating processes that echo James Kirby. The Turkish composer is completely upfront about his sample sources, and transposes them into an imaginary landscape that's between fantasy, nostalgia and psychedelia.

'Lamba Pr 01 / 165530' sounds like a band playing at half speed in an abandoned swimming pool, with time-stretched drum hits, moaning vocals and fluttered piano forming a cloudy atmosphere that's part Alan Lomax and part Angelo Badalamenti. These are sounds we almost remember - they're familiar but not completely obvious: on '5147' we might be hearing fragments of a movie soundtrack or TV theme, but we can't be sure; on 'Lamba Pr 03' we could be hearing an old time-y jazz piano loop, or it might be something else. Throughout the album, Kantarcioğlu treats his material as if it's modeling clay, using his source material like Philip Jeck might, pitching it furiously and applying effects liberally.

Additional elements are unclear, but Istanbul's Ekin Fil contributes vocals and "sound textures", while drummer Berke Can Ozcan adds percussion. These new elements are lost in Kantarcioğlu's dense atmosphere like tears in rain, everything shaping itself into a continuous, slowly shifting soundscape. It's impressive to witness - a massive recommendation.