2009 will go down as the year Thema finally docked the boat and dug it’s heels into the mud of the vast digital jungle. So far, our expeditionhas yielded a small cache of brilliant work from talent relatively unknown on these shores. For Thema 8.5, Japan’s own Keisuke Kondo has granted us access into his teeming vast netherworld. Operating on equal parts intuition and experiential craftsmanship, Keisuke has begun building a stout body of work with a sharp eye towards quality control since 2005. Along with his solo releases and appearances on op.disc, 9volt and Frankie Rec, he has gotten play through Milnor Modern, Goosehound and a handful of other notable outlets as part of the beautiful Tokyo-based weirdness that is The Suffragettes. This EP is a bit of a departure from all of that, but we consider it a welcome one, as we see his sensibilities mature, building sharp but delicate spires on the foundations of the past.