Englishman Seams, aka James Welch, has combined two EP’s on his most recent release on Full Time Hobby. On the first EP »Tourist«, which he had already released 2010 on Picture Music, he tries to musically reproduce the feeling of a summer in Berlin. On the so far unreleased part »Sleeper«, he assigns his return to England with a sinister key tone. James Welch starts his artfully interwoven sound carpet with »Hung Markets«, an echoing glockenspiel on a driving rhythm, which sure enough evokes the picture and feeling of an urban summer night outside with a clutter of voices and noises in the background. The core of the first EP is »Nachtmusik«, where light bell sounds break through a HipHop structure and manage to vary the beat in a playful manner. »Tourist« is beautifully crafted and comparable with early electronica-variations by Four Tet or Gold Panda, but Seams lacks an individual profile, which he could use to distinguish himself from obvious role models. This works better on the bulky and more stringent EP »Sleeper«. »The Glow« opens with vast, bassy sound spaces and creates a calm atmosphere, which is riddled by pointy snares and pitched vocal samples. With »The Long Wait«, he manages a great ending. Its flipping and falling synthie-melodies force the listener to pay total attention and show once again the potential of the musician. Thus, a clear musical development of Seams in the last two years is definitely audible.
Tourist / Sleeper
