It’s been just about one year since the release of Jirku’s debut Variants was released on Alien8 Recordings and since then he has also recorded a full length for Force Inc. He will also release 12”s and compilation tracks for various labels.

On Immaterial Jirku embodies headphone minimalism through a blend of very subtle, quiet passages constructed from field recordings, drones and stereo effects, combined with layers of his signature minimal-click dub sound. He has truly managed to create his own sound in a school that is overloaded with copycats and wannabes, although elements of what he is doing can certainly be compared to the likes of Vladislav Delay, Pole and Thomas Brinkmann.

The idea behind Immaterial was to work with fewer tracks and give them more time to develop, allowing the repetitious rhythms to really infect the listener. It includes four tracks which merge into each other, creating one solid composition with four movements.

The recording opens with a series of low-end pulses and clicks constructed from static and very gradually other layers of sound appear, revealing a constant dub/house beat that soon after disappears. Jirku teases the listener with the constant arrival of rhythm only to dissolve those sounds seconds later, until the 8 minute mark, when the piece takes on the form of very adventurous danceable minimalism. The track continues in this direction until the fourteen minute mark where it drowns itself into field recordings of a running stream until track 2, Gluon surfaces. Three-minutes into the track the beats are very evident indeed: creepy minimal dub with different field recordings weaving in and out of the track until it is over taken by the sounds of passing cars on the freeway. Track 3, Baryon, has the appeal of a lot of the classic Chain Reaction releases, not so much in terms of the actual sounds, but in terms of the great production values. Track 4, Pion, is perhaps the most adventurous of the record, operating without beats for the bulk of the time and relying on a mixture of field recordings. At times Immaterial brings to mind Monolake’s ‘Gobi Desert’ release, but manages not to fall victim to a new age vibe throughout the entire recording.

Tomas Jirku, when not producing music, is busy studying as a designer and took the time to do the artwork for Immaterial. The CD will be packaged in a gatefold sleeve with very striking photos of water in it’s three phases and will be printed on matte-cardstock paper.