This is a very interesting music indeed. I guess you’d call it intelligent electronica? It's not dance music, not in my book anyway, maybe a more rave-infused M83 is a good comparison. Treated vocals, lovely warm fuzzy synths, drum patterns made from static and interesting dynamics keep this always a creative step or two away from four to the floor predictability.
When He Starts is all edgy squeak squidgy beats, and then a sort of traveling wave of vocals drenched in infinite reverb not a million miles away from Thom Yorke on The Eraser. It ends a little abruptly for my liking and doesn’t do much more than establish the mood but it’s an attention-grabbing opener.
The next track, Clair Takes Too Much Ketamine is a brilliant stand-out for me. Blessed-out synth drones strike up a mood and then slowly envelop you, whilst fizzy electronic percussion begins its dance around your eardrums. Eventually it all sort of levels out into a clear place that sort of sounds like dance music experienced at an emotional remove and then goes through a few interesting iterations and permutations before the end. It’s kind of like someone has taken the thought that listening to dance music on drugs sounds good, but it would be safer if it sounded like that without you having to be on drugs. That’s progress, kids. Oh, and drugs are bad, m'kay?
Metallipsis, the third track, starts with a gorgeous piece of reverb and static-y beats that sounds like the start of a Four Tet track or something off Post. Then heavily treated vocals start - insistent, repeating and illegible. Oddly enough though, it doesn’t have the same progression that the previous one did. It just sort of gets something interesting going, does that for a bit and then the beats stop to let the one riff do its thing for a few times and then stop . It's really good, but one feels there's more to come in terms of structure.
This music feels like someone playing in the true sense of the word, following an interesting idea and seeing where it takes them. On this showing, it should be somewhere very interesting indeed.
- Tom Everett
Angler Ape - irremplaçable is available to download now on Dream Dark.