Eponymous 4

Nothing says “Welcome to your new life” more than a burglary.

For web editor Greg Bueno, it was the theft of a MIDI workstation in 1998 that prompted him to replace his aging equipment. Greg had suspected the 8-year-old workstation was holding him back creatively, but he didn’t realize just how much till he upgraded. Eager to try out his (then-)new acquisitions, Greg set out to write some new music.

The presets of his new workstation reminded Greg a lot of Enigma, and while he like MCMXC a.D., Greg wouldn’t consider himself a devoted fan of Enigma. Regardless, he sought to record a tribute to Enigma, or at least to MCMXC a.D.

So he spent the rest of 1998 crafting a five-song EP that became enigmatics, the project that would spur the creation of Eponymous 4. It also served as the first release for Observant Records.

engimatics saw two releases — a hasty physical release in 2008 that was barely mixed and mastered, and a more thoughtful reissue in 2013.

On the 10th anniversary of Observant Records founding, Greg had a thought: What if enigmatics were made with the studio skills he acquired in the 12 years since its release? That thought resulted in a deluxe reissue: the original EP paired with an updated version alongside extra tracks.

The original EP limited itself to the two pieces of equipment available to Greg at the time. The new mix takes advantage of the full range of instruments in his present-day studio, and it represents what Greg had wanted to achieve.

More than 20 years after its initial creation, enigmatics reaches its most complete realization to date.