Hidden Shoal Recordings » Jumpel Reviews

Jumpel ‘Europa’ – A Strangely Isolated Place

Jamie — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 02:06:19 +0000

Excerpt: “… Jo Dürbeck aka Jumpel, found inspiration from time travelling around Europe which has materialised into a very special album, where each track represents a different city, feeling and stage of the journey. “Like many journeys, Europa begins with speculation and tentative steps. In ‘Arles’ and ‘Bern’, the delicate pattering of subtle rhythms is counterbalanced with delicate melodic figures, like light reflecting off water. ” Taking different approaches throughout, ‘Europa’ transcends into a multitude of feelings and ultimately a true sense of change and progression is apparent, until a beautiful vocal hits in ‘Edinburgh’, lighting up an already sublime album. I have it on good word from Pete Srdic (asip’s ears on the ground!) that Jo’s other albums are just as special and varied in their approach, so time to get digging. You can get ‘Europa’ on Jumpel’s Bandcamp and believe it or not, the best track on the album ‘Edinburgh’ is available as a free download (video below). For links to the rest of his releases, see the Hidden Shoal label site or the Jumpel website.”

A Strangely Isolated Place

Jumpel ‘Europa’ – Headphone Commute

Jamie — Mon, 02 May 2011 13:53:19 +0000

Excerpt: “On his third full length album for Hidden Shoal, Jumpel curates gentle whispers, lonely glances and tired sighs, in his carefully produced environmental snapshots of the world. Europa is Jo Dürbeck’s continuation of sound exploration as Jumpel, inspired by his travels around the continent, transforming his memories into eleven tracks titled after the visited cities. From Stockholm to Madrid to Vienna and Lisbon, Dürbeck’s album is more than an audio travelogue, it is an “abstracted sonic diary, painting the intangibility and romanticism of memory and travel using sparse yet resonant sound.” There’s no trickery here to ploy the listener and bend his ear, instead the familiar fragments of harmony and effected progression shine through with their exquisite moments, and comfortably settle on their best. Although at times such a description may sound undesirable, I assure you that in this context it is meant as a compliment. Indeed, these tracks are perfect for my morning, rainy and drowsy commute, each telling a story of another city, ticking away with the clink-clank of the train. Perhaps somebody out there, perhaps Dürbeck, perhaps even you, is listening to the story of my city, on their own morning, rainy, and drowsy commute.”

Headphone Commute

Jumpel ‘Europa’ – Igloo Magazine

Jamie — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 04:11:03 +0000

Excerpt: “a minimal explanation of discovery, borne out of travels that extended around Europe. A certain inspiration that gives perspective for wider observations from distances of every measure, but also capped with a certain amount of isolation… It’s cool and collected, but has enough power to draw in the lightness of a natural surrounding, gradually making it glow; carefully planted strings adding a more sublime texture while glittering chimes embrace. Ever so mild, yet makes enough of a statement with its brighter inclinations and filtered sounds. Hugely ambient, gentle and suggestive in part, with quiet aspects that lament around each city stop, Europa is a portrait of minimalistic excellence and a passion for discovery, which flourishes with every experimental step across the continent.”

Igloo Magazine

Jumpel ‘Europa’ – Textura

Jamie — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 04:10:10 +0000

Excerpt: “If Europa isn’t quite a whirlwind tour around the world in eighty days, it’s at the very least a journey through Europe in forty-five minutes—and very much a scenic one at that… An attempt to distill personal memories of eleven European locations into an ambient electronica suite, the concept driving the new release is an inspired one that affords a marvelous opportunity for dramatic sound exploration. Each piece is like a mini-portrait that more evokes the locale indirectly than tries to literally represent it, and the project as a whole imprints itself surrpetitiously on the listener’s mind… The album’s most memorable track is “Edinburgh,” on account of a simple yet memorable set of piano chords and especially a luminous vocal performance by Chloë March. The song stands out so much, in fact, it suggests Dürbeck would be wise to consider featuring a greater number of vocal performances on future Jumpel recordings. Broached as a whole, Europa plays less like the experience of a first-time sightseer excited by the prospect of seeing the usual tourist sights and more like a long-time visitor who regards the journey as a time for reflection and melancholic rumination.”

Textura

Jumpel ‘Edinburgh’ – Life is Noise

Jamie — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 03:00:04 +0000

Excerpt: “We really dug Jumpel’s last album, Deuxième Bureau, so we’re naturally very excited that the German minimalist will be gracing our ears again, through the excellent Hidden Shoal Recordings. Jumpel’s third album, Europa, is out now.You can watch the mesmerisingly good film clip to the first single, “Edinburgh”, which features the vocals of Chloë March. Like the music itself, it’s arrestingly simple and brilliantly executed. Enjoy!”

Life is Noise

Jumpel ‘Edinburgh’ – BBQ Chicken Robot

Jamie — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 23:31:20 +0000

Excerpt: “We got this pretty ill track from Germany’s Jumpel, who apparently is a pretty sick ambient minimalist music maker over there in Germania. Checked out some of the earlier stuff and dig it. Edinburgh is a perfect example off of his forthcoming album Europa with a great vocal contribution from Chloe March. All a different pace but good for some slower moments. Jumpel is a perfect example why I did the ambient movements. Get the track below and look out for his album later this month.”

BBQ Chicken Robot

Jumpel ‘Edinburgh’ – Beehive Candy

Jamie — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 23:12:53 +0000

Excerpt: “Edinburgh is taken from the forthcoming Jumpel album Europa (out November 25th). Inspired by Jo Dürbeck’s travels around Europe, the album transforms Dürbeck’s personal memories of 11 different European locations into minimal ambient electronica. The album acts as a kind of abstracted sonic diary, painting the intangibility’s and romanticism of memory and travel using sparse yet resonant sound. A simple idea – and one that has produced Jumpel’s most restrained and unified effort to date…. an artist new to us and whom we hope to get to hear a lot more of.”

Beehive Candy

Jumpel ‘Edinburgh’ – Sentimentalist

Jamie — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 05:33:02 +0000

Excerpt: “This track is perfect for any weather, which if you’re in New York is still wet, warm and full of spring promise. The weather will likely turn on us really, really soon and everyone will have ice in their hair/beards. This track is too full of ambient bliss to against anyone. The track is from Jumpel’s forthcoming album Europa out on November 25th. “Inspired by Jo Dürbeck’s [the artist known as Jumpel] travels around Europe, the album transforms Dürbeck’s personal memories of 11 different European locations into minimal ambient electronica.”

Sentimentalist

Jumpel “Deuxieme Bureau” – Textura

tim — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:15:26 +0000

Excerpt: “twelve-tracks of ambient-dub set-pieces of understated yet still resplendent colour… an album of many moods, with dub, dub-techno, ambient, electro-pop, and funk all making appearances… A spirit of languor and ease pervades the album as a whole, rendering it a scenic yet still relaxing travelogue.”

Textura

Jumpel “Deuxieme Bureau” – Foxy Digitalis

tim — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 22:50:30 +0000

Excerpt: “all about exploring space. Most of that space is silence… a minimal, ambient tour through a room; or maybe it is a garden. A forest? Whatever, the tracks here imply a specific, self-contained space… Jumpel adds a personal take on ambient sounds. Jo Durbeck’s music is welcoming and gentle, even as it challenges. Deuxieme Bureau explores the positive sounds that are always there, even in the silence, even in sadness.”

Foxy Digitalis

Jumpel “Deuxieme Bureau” – Drum Media

tim — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 06:35:17 +0000

Excerpt: “[Jumpel] has not lost the intimacy that a minimalist attitude often affords… Jumpel’s delicate piano motifs mesh seamlessly with his fuzzed-out electronic hi-hits, pizzicato strings and tones of marimba. There are no fancy-pants-allegro piano solos in Jumpel’s repertoire, just gently executed tinkerings on the keyboard, but it’s the relative simplicity and sense of calm that you notice, especially on repeated listens.”

Drum Media

Jumpel “Deuxieme Bureau” – Ondarock

tim — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 05:32:52 +0000

Excerpt (translated from the Italian): “In his second album, Jumpel continues along the path of refining his electronic-based compositions, offering an elegant hybrid between modulated environmental sounds, acoustic instruments and pronounced rhythms next to soft IDM tones”

Ondarock

Jumpel “Deuxieme Bureau” – Rave

tim — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 04:31:17 +0000

Excerpt: “More quality rainy day music from German ambitronic auteur… Jumpel knows how to extract emotion from technology. Delicate, as if feather-painted, his sophomore release Deuxième Bureau further develops the template set by 2007 debut Samuel Jason Lies On The Beach… the album reads like an Ambient 101… melancholic music box patterns and string washes channel exquisite Lost In Translation ennui… Put this on, turn off your mind, relax and float downstream”

Rave

Jumpel “Deuxieme Bureau” – BlogCritics

tim — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 04:23:21 +0000

Excerpt: “The soundscape is minimalistic, discreet, and yet also provocative, inspiring avenues of thought and imagery. It is meticulous, without losing freedom. It is surreal without losing a sense a purpose. It is sublime without drifting off course. It takes you to places that are buried in your mind but are rarely visited amid all the chaos of today’s life… Delicate terrains of sound are created and laced intricately together. This album should, and could be prescribed to help us through the grime of the day’s madness. ‘Joe Couldn’t Make It Tonight’ is a superbly constructed counter-balance between the dark and unsettling voice repeating the title above delicate and melancholic piano. The result is a memorable album highlight begging to have its story unearthed and revealed… The album’s journey continues through the sublime minimalism of ‘Matter Of Time’. Both ‘Rag Magnetic Flag’, and ‘Dense Dust’ provoke further mind trips before the final magical track ‘The Sea / Friends’ brings it all to an end.”BlogCritics

Jumpel “Deuxieme Bureau” – Leonard’s Lair

tim — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 04:18:41 +0000

Excerpt: “The key to so many records is how they begin. ‘Leaves’ opens with some lovely jazz textures and continues on a journey of warm electronics with the minimum of fuss. ‘Considering The Kicker Knows It’ combines Bark Psychosis’ immaculate sense of space with the nostalgically-inclined arrangements of Gnac… There’s even a couple of nods to the oft-imitated Boards Of Canada on the final two tracks but Dürbeck is such a classy performer, even this supposed homage is carried out in his own, quietly seductive style. Jumpel is like the electronic equivalent of Talk Talk; adhering to the Mark Hollis theory of ‘Before you play two notes learn how to play one note and don’t play one note unless you’ve got a reason to play it.’ Deuxième Bureau isn’t initially attention grabbing but like a lot of great albums it gradually takes hold of your ears and refuses to relinquish its grip.”

Leonard’s Lair

Jumpel ‘Deuxieme Bureau’ – Cyclic Defrost

tim — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 05:21:47 +0000

Excerpt: “mastery over form and distillation of complexities into intricate miniatures… Beyond all the concepts possibly construed through listening and recognition there remains a document that is emotional, soulful and heartfelt... Deuxieme Bureau is an immersive and emotional ride through micro environments of sound from separate, discrete and inter-referential parts… the ride leads the listener to the outro track ‘Sea/Friends’ whose bird-like references, warm piano and cathedral ambience, childlike grace and austere minimalism satiates the ear with both the simplicity of youth and the distilled wisdom and knowledge of experience.”

Cyclic Defrost

Jumpel ‘Deuxieme Bureau’ – [sic]

tim — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 05:16:53 +0000

Excerpt: “The twelve tracks share a quiet, low-tempo sensibility, but there is an immense amount of variety on offer. Reference marks would include Brian Eno, Nightmares on Wax and the sort of ambient interludes that are used to break up what are otherwise much bolder and harsher dance/electronic albums… At times, it seems like everything is hiding behind everything else… There is definitely an air of the familiar made smaller about this record. It pays close attention without ever demanding it. A subtle joy, it’s one of the best downtempo releases I’ve heard in years.”

[sic]

Jumpel “Deuxieme Bureau” – Luna Kafe

tim — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:03:22 +0000

Excerpt: “The elegance of Deuxième Bureau is stunning… ambient music with heart and soul”

Luna Kafe

Jumpel “Samuel Jason Lies on the Beach” – The Pelican’s Perch

tim — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 02:35:58 +0000

Excerpt: “Jumpel is minimalistic electronic music filled with a modern classical feel that I’ve really only heard done this well in Max Richter’s music. Max Richter I have up on a pedestal when it comes to modern classical music, so you can imagine the joy I got from listening to Jumpel’s album Samuel Jason Lies on the Beach… I lost track how many times I just let it play. Some of you may find the untraditional, minimal nature of Jumpel’s songs to be a bit hard to enjoy fully, but I know there’s some of you out there that love minimalistic electronic music like Max Richter, Boards of Canada, Mum, and even some of the slower, instrumental songs of Sigur Ros. It’s music that can be summed up in one word: Peaceful… Jumpel fits that category perfectly and I’m excited to be one of the first blogs to talk about his wonderful, peaceful electronic landscapes.”

The Pelican’s Perch

Jumpel “Samuel Jason Lies on the Beach” – Textura

tim — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 01:28:40 +0000

Excerpt: “Jumpel brings a wealth of musical and life experience to this meticulously crafted debut album. He’s clearly mastered the technological challenges involved in merging acoustic and electronic sounds into compositional wholes and does so deftly throughout, without succumbing to excess or self-indulgence. Dürbeck’s electro-acoustic meditations manage to be both minimalistic yet symphonic too… Over the course of the album, Dürbeck reveals himself to be something of an obsessive miniaturist, as he packs the maximum amount of detail into each setting, regardless of length. Even so, Samuel Jason Lies On The Beach feels intimate despite its broad spectrum of instrumental colour and occasional cinematic ambiance.”

Textura

Jumpel “Samuel Jason Lies on the Beach” – Luna Kafe

tim — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 01:12:11 +0000

Excerpt: “Late evening and late night music. This is about minimalism and quiet emotions, presenting chilled ‘n’ breezy electronica landscapes. Delicately toned down, but not without a red thread throughout the record. The pianos and keyboards are almost whispering, while the soundscapes are spiced with a sparkling electronic texture. Distant seagulls, tiny waves and a salt sea breeze. A most pleasing album it is… Krautronica is the new cool.”

Luna Kafe

Jumpel “Samuel Jason Lies on the Beach” – Sonic Frontiers

tim — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 05:57:45 +0000

Excerpt: “A beautiful, minimal electronic record for the heads… Jumpel has succeeded in creating a decidedly cinematic mood over the course of the album’s thirteen tracks… The album does benefit from a constant, if largely downbeat-sounding mood that any willing listener will happily be able to lose themselves inside… enthusiasts of minimal electronic music will find much to enjoy with Jumpel’s new album and its wide sound palate.”

Sonic Frontiers

Jumpel “Samuel Jason Lies on the Beach” – Angry Ape

tim — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 05:25:20 +0000

Excerpt – “Jumpel has a superb understanding of technology and how to incorporate it into his compositions. The instrumentation is effortlessly blended throughout with the sounds emanating from his CPU, the beats are mixed to the front, yet don’t dominate the mix. It’s subtleties like this that make this effort so appealing. It’s an approach that allows every facet of his sound to breathe and exert its influence. Much like a never-ending jigsaw, Samuel Jason Lies on the Beach reveals something new with each listen. Be it the swirling synths, chilled strings or intricately placed sound effects, each little piece offers a glimpse of the whole picture. There is a certain something about Jumpel’s compositions… a thoroughly rewarding experience”

Angry Ape