Although each A Little More Than Everything track takes its time, Arthur Oskan manages to run the gamut from slow-simmering early-hours techno to dark club tracks in less than ninety minutes. The Toronto-based producer doesn’t pine for obvious room-filling peaks on his classy debut, opting instead for oft-flickering grooves or tasteful, ambient interludes.
Sole A Little More Than Everything guest, Jesse Somfay, is traditionally concerned with a grand and far headier Boards of Canada-inspired type of home-listening techno (his A Catch in the Voice is an overlooked wonder). For Arthur Oskan’s purposes, however, Somfay’s contribution is in mere singular guitar drones on beatless opener “Sentimental”. A speedily cycling loop patters in the far background of “Sentimental”, with gentle swells rolling over the heart murmur bass that doesn’t ever get any bigger than a small nudge. “Blood From a Stone” starts in the same unadorned fashion. Its coupling of minor key piano and soft swirling synth is particularly haunting and reminds me of the no-frills techno at the center of Glitterbug’s recent Privilege, but Oskan deceives in his front-end reserve. A Little More picks up considerably when the stark “Use No Good” and “Morning Calling” hit hard with tangible builds and wiry bass lines. For the album’s strongest eight minutes, Oskan peppers “Pensive” with varied percussive punches and analog keyboard tones that coalesce marvelously enough to either finish a set in the city or open the day at home. Such versatility is hardly surprising given the kind of ground that Oskan covers on this record.