Koen Holtkamp creates music that exists simultaneously in large and small scales. His compositions lend themselves to careful examination, with each sound precisely placed. Holtkamp (who is one-half of Mountains) considersevery instrument he uses carefully and pays specific attention to the environment, actual or digital, in which that instrument is being recorded and processed. They also expand and evolve gradually, giving a sense of boundlessness that extends not only to a specific song or album, but also to his discography as a whole. On Motion, Holtkamp plays with these ideas of scale and space, using a shifting array of analog, digital and acoustic sources to explore the perceived effect of moving from one dynamic space to another. He excels at coaxing the sublime out of the synthetic, writing music that seems as if it has existed in nature for eons, but can only now be uncovered using modern electronic instrumentation.
