The early 2000s saw an abundance of ambient and IDM artists following the trail blazed by the early roster of Warp Records, the British label essentially responsible for the intelligent dance music genre. Amidst a flurry of emerging labels, Miami's Merck Records existed from 2000-2007, and released some crucial electronic albums during their short run. One standout is "Trying To Remember", the second full-length album from Los Angeles based artist Deru (Benjamin Wynn). There are certain essential qualities about distinctive ambient records; the production, atmosphere, arrangement and overall album concept, when done well, can contribute to something like an introspective cinematic experience. Deru achieves a remarkable atmosphere throughout this album, crafting dark ambient textures and abstract hip-hop beats, layered with sparse horns and shadowy vocal samples. Apart from an obvious Boards of Canada influence in production, the album's mild glitchiness brings to mind Jan Jelinek's masterful work, "loop-finding-jazz-records".
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