The Meaning

Thomas Melchior’s early productions for the Rephlex and Source labels, as part of Yoni and Vulva, were superlative — deep, psychedelic IDM. But he’s really marked out space for himself via his solo productions, whose characteristics seem to be a lightness of touch, and a gentle yet insistent yearning. The Meaning was released on German label Playhouse and it has a skippiness to it that recalls UK garage and two-step, even as it’s as lithe as the best house. Its minimalism seems to consist more of the ticklish tenderness of the sounds here — clicky rhythms, plinky piano, light, aerated drones wrapped around the tracks — which is a reminder that everything here seems to float in the air, nothing’s pinned down by bass heaviness. It’s not quite helium house, but The Meaning certainly has a weightlessness to it, as though it’s for a zero gravity dance floor.