Category Archives: Electronic/IDM

Errors- Have Some Faith in Magic (2012)

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Turns out Errors have a new album out, entitled Have Some Faith in Magic. I’ve been accompanying my uni work with their album for a few days now, and I must say it’s definitely a keeper.

The overall vibe, for the uninitiated, is sort of an electro melting pot but with a alt. rock drum and guitar. I hate to label, and that description doesn’t do the album justice. You really need to listen to it. In terms of synths, there’s bleep-bloopy 8bit style synths, classic buzzsaw keys and oscillating thereminesque parts. And it’s all held together with often scorching drum parts and a heavy guitar/sparkly guitar almost reminiscent of Mogwai’s early stuff. 

Indeed, Errors’ signing to Rock Action is not the only similarity the two share. In fact, the more keyboard-laden approach that we saw the boys from Glasgow create on Hardcore Will Never Die… is also similar in tone to some of the parts here, albeit toned down. But that’s not to say that they sound exactly the same or anything. Goodness no, pigeonholing them in that way just wouldn’t do this album justice

There is a lot of tonal variation on Have Some Faith in Magic, and surprisingly for a synth-laden album (but not entirely synth-based), it doesn’t sound hokey at all. If it wasn’t for the ethereal vocal tones on Blank Media, you could almost be listening to an updated Kraftwerk for 2012. And that’s definitely a good thing! Perhaps it’s the live drums at the heart of it or something. Never does the album barrel into nostalgia-ville full tilt.

Lead single Pleasure Palaces gently segues into the album with a more electro version of Chemical Brothers’ Star Guitar vibe. Very much a travelling song, in my head at least. But then halfway, it changes into a delightfully bubbly arpeggiated line that just rises out of the blue. Accompanied by a toy piano/stars twinkling line, it’s just heavenly. And that’s not something that I can say about a lot of things I’ve heard recently.

Magna Encarta (see what they did there?) has a distinct Boards of Canada sound to it, but a bit more upbeat. Again about halfway through there is a delightful transition into a fanfare of guitar and ethereal vocals. Each track is a bit like a present on this album- you never know what’s inside the box you initially hear.

Caveats? Well if you hate electronica (i.e. keys and synths) this’ll probably not do much for you. Having said that, the laid-back feel of a few of the tracks might surprise a few who don’t normally attend the churches of Roland and Casio. It’s definitely an accessible album.

Autechre – Tri Repetae : A review of a landmark electronic album

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Tri Repetae

I came to know of Tri Repetae rather late. I only started listening to electronic music in earnest around 1995 when a friend sent me a tape of Orbital’s Snivilization. I started going through the Autechre catalog one at a time somewhere around 2009, and came to Tri Repetae in 2010. By then, it was 15-year old music, but it did not fail to impress me; electronic music was moving fast in the 90s, so this alone says something about it.

I had given both Incunabula and Amber (the two preceding albums) plenty of time to understand them, since I was aware from my readings that Tri Repetae was a significant leap beyond them, and I wanted to feel that. These are both solid works, and I recommend them in their own right.

There are some albums that you know are special within five or ten seconds; this is one of them. As soon as the opening bass pulse of Dael finishes a cycle or two, you think you’re in for something different. Fortunately, the album does not fail to deliver on its first promise.

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Shadowcaster – Visions of Zosimos

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It doesn’t take an occultist to identify with and appreciate the works of the Denver-based Justin Larwick (aka Aleph.Null). Larwick’s project, Shadowcaster, results in some genuinely nasty melodies, supported by pulsing beats and calculated dissonance.

Larwick’s Visions of Zosimos achieves a calming yet irreverent tone with astounding ease, perfectly conveying his intending influences of ancient ritual with a modern twist. Each track melds easily and completely with all others in the set. The whole of the album is something spectacularly unsettling, if not downright malevolent.

Almost as intriguing as the music itself is Larwick’s focus on the relationship between his music and performance art. Each set is developed to accompany a single live performance art piece and is not repeated in the live setting. The live sets often feature occult-based rituals, often involving gore and human suspension, a perfect visualization of Larwick’s brooding sounds.

Not for the faint of heart, ShadowCaster’s Visions of Zosimos is a memorable compilation of tracks, driving one to believe in the presence of something truly evil, even if only for the 24 minutes and 56 seconds of the album. Though I have no alignment with the occult, I consider this set to be nightmare and a treasure – one that will enter my listening rotation on a regular basis.

This review was written by sosoconsistent.
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Steve Hauschildt – Tragedy & Geometry (Kranky 2011)

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Steve Hauschildt - Tragedy & Geometry (Kranky 2011)

After three years of having albums released through small run tape labels, kosmische revivalist Steve Hauschildt finally gets a proper release for his mind bending work.  Being one third of the Ohio zoned out giants, Emeralds, his solo work could be easily overlooked.  ”Tragedy & Geometry” is an album with focused energy on shorter compositions rather than the long form style of his earlier releases.

The aura of this album generates feelings of a mature nature, completely packed with lush synth zones and melancholic, meandering arpeggios.  The opening track, “Polyhymnia”, is a representation of just that.   The fourth track and one of my favorites on the album, “Already Replaced”, starts off with a delicate arpeggio quickly being met kindly by airy, melancholic undertones to give the intention that you or something else being replaced.  Shimmering, high toned synth calms that melancholic smoke by dancing a melody around it.  ”Music for Moiré pattern” is the only slow burner on the album clocking in at a comfortable 11 minutes and reminds me heavily of his work with Emeralds.  The quasi-distorted synth that comes in two thirds of the way through is reminiscent of Mark McGuire’s fret board magic and trails off for the rest of the track.  The last track, “Stare into Space”, brings everything full circle.  As the track hones in on friendly arpeggios again, it really smooths out into a suggestive soundscape relating to the closing of the album.

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Below is a mix of previews throughout the album in track number order.

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