Illusions Of Shameless Abundance EP - Against All Logic: Review
is a Pseudonym of Nicholas Jarr an experimental electronic and ambient music producer. Unlike the more compositionally dense music he released on his two studio records under his own name the music of Against All Logic, which debuted in 2018, is much more house oriented. The record received universal critical acclaim and seemed like it would be a one off project until Jarr anounced this new EP, followed by a new record the very next weekend both under the Against All Logic name.
Review By Lavender:
I enjoyed Nicholas Jarr's debut record Space Is Only Noise but I wasn't quite as blown away by it as a lot of other electronic music fans. I was even less enthralled with 2016's Sirens and caught some minor heat from fans when I left it off of my Top 100 Albums list of that year. So I would have never expected that a side project of his would not only surpass the music under his own name, but go on to be one of my favorite electronic albums of the entire decade in which it was released. 2012-2017 was a genius blend of low-fi mixing and dense layers of groove oriented house instrumentation and alongside some of the most amazing sampling I have ever heard it made for an unforgettable listening experience. My immense enjoyment of the record got me very excited for this EP, and while I appreciate what these two tracks have to offer I'm hoping this isn't what the project will sound like going forward.
The first and better of the two songs on this 15 minute EP is Illusions Of Shameless Abundance with a feature from No Wave legend Lydia Lunch. The track starts off with a cool driving jungle drum beat and some staticky squelching synths that sound incredibly interesting. Lydia shows up on the track and is haunting in her looped hypnotic refrains. Her voice pairs with the punchy energy of the percussion and the track sounds like it's from another world but I quite like it.
Aluciano is the second track and despite pushing nearly 10 minutes the song feels much less immediate than its predecessor. It gets off to a decent start with a killer synth line and some evolving percussion patters that I like quite a bit. But from here on out it starts to wander out of the comfortable world of house music and results tend to vary. I do have to say I'm not a huge fan of any of the vocals on this track, FKA Twigs are better than Estado Unido's but neither are exactly ideal and they both absolutely dominate the mix whenever they arrive. Around the five minute mark some really shrill synths pop up and even though thats something Jarr has done really well before they get pretty aggravating by the end of the track. The whole track doesn't really go anywhere in its long second half and settles for just beating you into submission and in the moment I'm not in love with it.
Over the 15 minutes of this EP's runtime Nicholas Jarr jumps well beyond the world of the house music that typically appears on Against All Logic music. While the thirst for experimentation makes for some great moments across the record it can be equally taxing in its worst moments. Despite this the sounds and textures remain fresh and interesting and I am still as excited as ever to hear more music from the project, although part of me does hope it doesn't sound like this. 6/10
