Aardvarck - Titi

Amsterdam's Mike Kivits must be considered one of the best in the city's rich music scene and luckily he is also very busy to maintain this status. You know him best as on half of Rednose Distrikt, and when he's working solo he calls himself Aardvarck. His debut on the Eat Concrete label came out last month already and it's his 4th solo album following “Find the Cow”, “Cult Copy” and “Pig Style.”

If you heard any of these, you already know Aardvarck as a restless spirit, always in search of something new or different. While Cult Copy was inspired by Detroit techno, Pig Style was his fresh approach on electronic hip-hop. Some of the early Rednose output was played by broken beat DJs worldwide, and if you heard his recent Bloom series, you also know he's got a growing interest for dubstep.

On his latest, Aardvarck follows a similiar path as on his 2001 album Find the Cow. Released on Delsin in 2001, it's his most versatile and most experimental production to date, with influences reaching from early Squarepusher to Domu or Tek 9. Well, Titi may not be as radical and not as nineties-inspired either, yet many comparisons can be drawn.01. Unttld
02. Ndutt
03. Nutelt
04. Titun
05. Teutld
06. Tldt
07. Dlunte
08. Lnttd
09. Ltdutn
10. Dnt
11. Duntit
12. Nutt
13. Tulti
14. Edun
15. Titi
16. Tl
17. Ednui
18. Untitle
19. Nl
20. Idlunt
21. Etuti
22. New Acid (Bonus1)
23. Ahahah (Bonus2)
24. Cow (Bonus3)
25. Troooopmix (Bonus4) Most of the tracks follow an atmospheric, mostly dark synthesizer with beats ranging from hip-hop to broken schemes. Once again, I must quote Soul in Motion for its comparable mood. This mood lasts until the very end of the album, when the bonus tracks take a different direction, each reminiscent of another of Aardvarck's periods.

I guess one has to be a fan of Aardvarck to like Titi, but I know there are many among the readers of this blog. When you look at the song titles, you won't get rid off the feeling these are somehow unfinished tracks. The highlights are clearly within the bonus tracks, which would deserve a release on vinyl. However, Titi is a download only album, available directly from Eat Concrete, Juno and many others. In fact, you should still be able to download a low-bitrate version for free, if that helps you deciding on a purchase.