Yeah, this really does not sound like an energy efficient way to modulate down.
It's similar to some of the ways you see here:
https://cascousa.com/compressed-air-101/types-of-compressors...
As for fewer moving parts and less maintenance, probably not gonna win on that.
The state you want already exists.
If you get a rotary screw, you are basically just going to
replace oil and filters every so often until the air end dies.
For a hobbyist, maybe never.
You might never run it for the 8000 hours the oil lasts or the filters last.
If you ran it 3 hours a day, it would take 7 years :)
If you want simplicity and less moving parts, and the ability to fix them easily, you can get a rotary vane compressor.
They can't be modulated down as well using a VFD as you can a rotary screw (there is a minimal speed at which the vanes seal properly due to centrifugal force) , but they are ridiculously simple and have very few moving parts. They are also easily repairable.
Until it literally falls apart, you will just need to replace filters and oil every so often, and some carbon blades every so often (50k+ hours) or so of usage. The compressor itself will probably last 100k-200k hours, and so, again, for a hobbyist, may easily outlive you.
It's just a motor, connected to a slightly offset spinning circle with blades (so that as it rotates, the offset causes it to form progressively smaller chambers).
Looks like this:
https://aircompressorworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/v-...