Following that discussion about the narrative of an entire release, I've
bought a few things recently that really come together well as proper
albums.
Actress "Hazyville" wears its Detroit influence on its sleeve while
exerting some latitude on the arrangements and beats the underpin
everything. There are a couple of stand-out tracks: "Ivy May Gilpin" and
"Again The Addiction", but I'd suggest that this definitely shouldn't be
picked apart, because it's much more rewarding when taken as a whole,
and nearly every track is doing something that you won't pick up on by
scanning through it. The album was a long time coming and definitely
worth the wait.
A Made Up Sound (2562) "Shortcuts" uses the lots-of-short-tracks
approach to building an album. Although the sound is abstract and
Detroit-inspired, the beats incorporate hip hop, dubstep, house and
techno influences, while never fitting neatly in any of these styles. If
anyone thinks dubstep is narrow and rigid, this might be a counter-example.
Aardvarck "Pigstyle" belongs in this category because he manages to
unify his recent dubstep output beside his house sound, while throwing
in some new experimental twists that vaguely recall his earlier works.
The characteristicness of his sound is strong enough that some might
think it's "samey", but I reckon he's traversing a fairly broad range of
beats and pulling in a number of different influences in the process.
All-told, I reckon it tells a complete story in a unique way, which =
album to me.
Robert Henke (Monolake) "Atom" uses a limited set of sounds, including
some traditional instruments mixed with his futuristic-sounding
synthesis to achieve a really distinctive sound throughout. It's really
composed as well. You can tell that a great deal of editorial restraint
went in to achieving the coherence of the album. I reckon this one will
definitely stand the test of time.
Tristan
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phonop...@phonopsia.co.uk
http://www.phonopsia.co.uk