Thyladomid is the alias of Charles Thiemann, a German producer for first came to prominence about two years ago now, thanks to a steady stream of excellent EPs that somehow fell into the lap of Solomun et al at Diynamic. Fast forward all this time, and here he is with his debut album for the label, Interstellar Destiny. An album that avoids the usual dance music cliches and pitfall (especially in the album domain), it’s a throughly enjoyable outing that’s hard not to fawn over thanks to its striking agenda and the producer’s all-round uncompromising attitude. ‘Generation Y’ is a fitting microcosm of what’s ahead, and if you didn’t know better you might think it was something from Carl Craig’s 69 alias. Either way, this is an album that very much stands on its own two feet, just as we can see from tracks such as the star-gazing ‘Capitalism’, the dreamy bed of synths that comprise ‘Something on Earth’ and the sheer brilliance of the percussive-fuelled ‘Daddy Rainbow’. Then there are the various collaborations with Mahfound, the best of which are ‘Mavericks’ and the album’s lead track, ‘The Real Thing’. Full of joyous and unlikely sounds from the off, Thyladomid’s debut LP is like a chess game in that it keeps you guessing and on your toes until the very last moment. And at the end of the day, isn’t that the secret to a great LP?
4 out of 5
Reviewed by Ian Fleming
