At The Ghastling we aren’t just interested in books, we’re interested in the whole damn strange aesthetic of the uncanny. So when I stumbled across this album by German beatmaker wun two, released 31st October 2018, and looked down the tracklist my interest was immediately piqued. A few of the tracks stand out by name alone: ‘two days of horror’, ‘motel transilvania’, ‘cinema of the death’ and ‘r.i.p.’
I am already familiar with wun two’s stuff, his intricate weave and slip of sampling and collaboration: from old jazz tracks, movies, recordings, hip-hop and scratchy lo-fi aesthetic. But unfortunately, I can’t find much info about him – the only info being an interview, in German, which I cannot speak. And I can’t find anything about this album, I can only assume he likes a good old black and white horror movie and the music to boot. But other than that, he is ghostly.
This album is eerie, dreamlike, slow and surreal – much like his other albums. It’s good music to sit still in the dark with and definitely music to write to – if you are so inclined. There is something in the atmosphere of these tracks where you can enjoy a good ‘timeslip’ from your living-room back to the silent movies of the 1920s; back to the 1930s fairground where you may find yourself locked in a Hall of Mirrors and all you can hear are the quick fingers of the piano player at the theatre somewhere; back through the jazz rooms of the 1950s where the smoke just fills and fills and everything seems just out of reach. Or perhaps it’s the 1980s and the overused tape in the deck slips and distorts, for a minute you think you can hear something else, something that shouldn’t be there. These are the things I think about when I listen to this music. These are the places I go to.
Suffice to say, if The Ghastling had a soundtrack, this would be on there.
Nosferatu is available from Bandcamp.
Rebecca Parfitt is founder and editor of The Ghastling.
If you have a book, album, film or anything else you think we might be interested in reviewing, please get in touch: editor@theghastling.com
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