Percolate is the first first solo release by M. Ostermeier of Should. Perco… Read Full Bio ↴Percolate is the first first solo release by M. Ostermeier of Should. Percolate was released Jan 4, 2010 on the German microlabel recordings.

Percolate's instrumentals are built from skeletal piano melodies and augmented with electronics and acoustic recordings that evoke ur-post-rock legends Labradford in their Mi Media Naranja and El Luxo So phase, or later-period Harold Budd (once he'd dropped the heavy reverb and chorus effects). Percolate is filled with understated melodies played on both acoustic and rhodes piano while the electronic elements — a skeletal beat here, a pad or sample there — are used sparingly to couch the piano, not overwhelm it. At the emotional core of the mini-album (on the tracks "Clockwork" and "Scratchy") these elements are joined by a third — airy, melancholic, twangy guitar worthy of Marc Nelson, Ry Cooder, or Loren Connors. Although Marc’s stated aim was to create something that "evoked a melancholic stillness", the mini-album is not monochromatic — the penultimate track "Continuity" hints at ambient techno while the closer "Persuasion" ends on a wistful, blissful, and somnambulistic note, that whilst not ecstatic, seems to hint that maybe life isn't so bad after all.