Buzzin Electronic Music

Optimo – Sleepwalk – album review

Optimo (Espacio), the Glaswegian nightclub

The Glaswegian nightclub Optimo (Espacio) has put out a mix on Domino Records by their resident DJs and founders Twitch and Wilkes called Sleepwalk. It creates an individual listening experience outside of the usual subterranean possibilities of their nightclub.

Celebrating ten years of Optimo (Espacio), Sleepwalk is eclectic whilst remaining firmly ambient and spiritual. Unlike the ecstatic, sweat-filled nights of Optimo, this is firmly for the individual, and is best listened to in solitary surroundings – an autumnally damp West End flat in Glasgow, a wintry city café, a grey seascape.

The mix promises to be a wonderful blur; a psychedelic experience; a conceptual mix that binds the genres – looking at the tracklisting Duke Ellington, Arthur Russell and a version of ‘Ring of Fire’ all jump out and you wonder how they will emerge from the cold, sparseness of the opening tracks – a glorious recording of sea-sounds seamlessly becoming an electronic ambience track by Nurse With Wound.

Well, for the most part, it works. The progression through these sounds is mostly well achieved. The move from the distance of the opening tracks to the inner-psychadelia of the later songs is pulled off well.  A fantastic song by Future Pilot AKA called ‘Nothing Without You (Terry Bina)’, and one by Ethiopean jazz artist Mulatu Astatke follow the move from cold to warm without much deliberation. The consistent clarity of Sleepwalk also promotes this solitary world where nothing is spoken, only sung. Less consistent are the inclusion of earlier tracks where the vocals dominate, and the cover of Ring of Fire to sound like a 1950s Kraftwerk appears out of place at the end of the mix.

Overall, this is wonderful mix by Twitch and Wilkes, that shows their recognition of the individualist nature of music as well as the shared element (shared music, shared sweat, shared lips) that comes in clubs.
It is as if it were a mixtape put together by an unknown part of yourself in order to show you that self. And at the end, it wishes you a loving goodnight with the final track ‘Sleepwalk’ by The Lady Vanishes.

Optimo’s Sleepwalk is out now on Domino Records on CD and is perfect listening for those who love downbeat electronica, ambient and conceptual music, and exemplary mixtaping. With Christmas approaching, it’s an art we could do with being reminded of.

Optimo have several dates around Scotland listed here and they will also be playing Fabric in London on the 12th of December.