Yagya: Rigning

I have been aware of Aðalsteinn ’Steini’ Guðmundsson for a while now, chiefly because of his being one half of pioneering Icelandic Techno group - Sanasol. Steini is one of the definitive members of Icelandic electronic music collective - Thule Musik, and has recorded as Plastic, Rhythm of Snow, Tree and Zitron.

His first release as Yagya was ’Rhythm of Snow’ for the legendary Force Inc label back in 2002. The current release is his second outing on Dutch label - Sending Orbs, following up ’Will I Dream During the Process?’ which came out in 2006.

Yagya further evolves the palette of Dub Techno which was pioneered by Basic Channel, and honed by some of my favourites - Deepchord. Echospace, Maurizio, Monolake, Pole and Rod Modell. The album is quite different to, but reminds me of ’Consumed’ by Plastikman; both have a sort of hypnotic groove to them that is kind of intense, but relaxing at the same time.

Rigning as most of you should know - is Icelandic for rain, and the patter, hum and cascade of water is the theme which unites all tracks. Where this album stands out from the other Dub Techno stalwarts is in its melodic consistency. Drums are heavily padded, with basslines and echoing chords and strings coming to the fore.

Like rain, the album soaks through you in sweeps and swirls of sound, undulating in mood and tone - much like rain changes from a gentle drizzle to a shower, to a complete downpour - and all stages inbetween. The magazine FACT put me onto Yagya through a feature on new and upcoming artists. To my ears, this is his most consistent album to date, and it already sounds like a classic to me - highly recommended.