I wander through the shelves, cedarwood, sun-drenched, thyme and rosemary, follow my shadow, reach left, reach right, reach out, before me dances a dust bunny in pastel colors.

In a relaxed groove, doors open. We are in New York, circa 1981. The drum machine latches onto the drummer, the synthesizers follow along involuntarily, how could they do otherwise, the whole room vibrates. Everything seems possible, glittering balls spin, and Discothèque means record library. We are in Brescia, around the same time. Everything seems possible. Even the batik shirt and the flute – buckled up, slipped onto the back. Rugs slide off damp tables, and Discothèque means record library. We are in Düsseldorf or Berlin. Roughly 2021, a lonely pub beckons us, a voice explains something, it is our television program, we follow along involuntarily, how could we do otherwise – then released into nature. A splashing drip, a spring rain, a fish dives for a fly, birds peck, the rhythm picks up, an electric piano drives us forward, the voice returns, the doors close, cedarwood smells, sun-drenched, thyme and rosemary, and for an eternal moment everything seems possible in the Balearic Library.

Welcome to the Balearische Bibliothek is Niklas Wandt's first release on italic. An EP with four tracks – and after Erdtöne (Kryptox, 2020) only his second solo release under his own name. He too learned in Düsseldorf's Salon Des Amateurs, builds his tracks on American electro and Italian cosmic – in BPM numbers from the lower middle; and where he needs something, he reaches for it: fearlessly even Goa, fusion, radio voice or Krautrock electronics of the so-called Berlin School; only: Wandt sits behind the instruments, when he uses a sample, then on the micro level, to build an instrument out of it. The library is not a convoluted collage work, but a supple architecture of impression.

Niklas Wandt is no stranger. He is in demand in the recent Rhenish scene, especially as a drummer and percussionist. Most recently, he released two albums with Jan Schulte/Wolf Müller on Growing Bin and an EP each with Sascha Funke in 2019 and 2020. He played with Stabil Elite, and is currently working with Neuzeitliche Bodenbeläge und Transport. In addition, he hosts the show Jazz & World for Westdeutscher Rundfunk. Niklas Wandt now lives in Berlin.