Through the Portal

Originally released on Phinery, Denmark, 12/12/2016 Reissued on Expansive, EE09CS. "There is a constant struggle between the organic and inorganic aspects of our personal nature—an effort aided by the drive to define our own physical boundaries through intangible experiences and ephemeral thoughts. But for Portland-based musician Daryl Groetsch—who records curiously reassuring and intricate synthesizer music as Pulse Emitter—this determination isn’t given credence by volume or density but by an emotional center around which everything else revolves. He peers deeply into our relationship with our environment and positions himself as a mediator of sorts between the fierce wilds of our instincts and the calming constancy of nature. He possesses a particular fascination with the hold that the environment and memory hold over people and discovers mesmerizing ways in which to link each influence to certain emotions. Scattered across the tracks of his latest release, “Through the Portal,” Groetsch maintains an intimate connection with both his audience and their perceptions of his freewheeling rhythmic insight. Over the course of eight songs, he applies his new age prudence to determine whether individuals have an innate need for natural connections, or whether we’re simply a collection of pinging neurons in the service of a dispassionate body. He surmises that there could be a case made for either reality, but he’s certainly offering us evidence to support the former supposition. Imbued with glacial synth melodies, found sound maneuverings and a mischievous sense of imagination, “Through the Portal” finds Groetsch supplanting all doubts with one of the most beautiful and electronically pastoral releases you’re likely to hear this year."