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No Hassle

by

Tosca

 
No Hassle
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Avg: 4.0 (157 ratings)

A gorgeous, archetypal downtempo record with hints of 20th-century classical

  • We Say...

    Review by Yancey Strickler

    It's not enough to just make an "ambient record" or a "downtempo record" or a "minimal record" anymore. Genre exercises — the province of incremental improvement, not enormous breakthrough — just aren't cutting it: be big or be gone. With Tosca, the circumstances are different. This is the work of Richard Dorfmeister, after all, he of Kruder & Dorfmeister, the Austrian kings of '90s downtempo, alongside the Austrian composer Rupert Huper. If there ever was a man who could give us a new downtempo classic, it would be him.

    No Hassle is not that classic, but it is a very, very good record. And while the overall mood is definitely down and the tempo is certainly slowed, it's not exactly a downtempo record. There are the flirty dalliances with world music — now as much a pillar of this style as the hazy keyboard tones — but there are also a couple (just a couple) of swings at pop, and a handful more moments whose origins belong in the realm of 20th-century classical music. (Certainly Huper's background influences that reading, but there are patterns and movements that give the suggestion plenty of credence.)

    It's a gorgeous record. It really is. Opener "My First," whose vocals lean heavily on the Knife/Fever Ray motif, is a supple beginning, its sparse construction tender, enveloping. And "Rosa," with its subtle Western motif and luscious bass line, is another standout. You can probably already sense exactly how this record will sound, the moments when it will perfectly soundtrack your life, the added weight, the pensive urgency it will facilitate. It's pretty hard to beat.

  • They Say...

    Review by John Bush, All Music Guide

    The lack of releases and exposure from Peter Kruder and Richard Dorfmeister during the 2000s may not have been entirely a bad thing; granted, their early remixes and productions as Kruder & Dorfmeister were landmarks in trip-hop, but if they'd continued on a similar release schedule, they might have gone the way of countless other acts trying (and failing) to avoid the forest-for-the-trees issues that plagued both producers and listeners. Dorfmeister's Tosca project with Rupert Huber remained relatively consistent, although without a full-length of new productions in quite a few years. No Hassle, then, arrived at just the right time. The sound isn't a surprise at all, with watery grooves, soft keyboards, and, early on, an inconstant use of backbeat. Midway through, however, the record finally gets in a few straight-ahead productions (including "Oysters in May"), but with all the immaculate sound and studied arrangements that fans would expect. Dorfmeister and Huber occasionally hark back to the haunted detachment of much classic IDM and trip-hop during the '90s, but as much of the record rests with the smoothest of jazz-fusion from the late '70s and early '80s. Actually a two-disc program, No Hassle includes a full disc of live material, recorded at the Ars Electronica festival.

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