Electronica Eruption with Four Tet, Jlin, & Gesaffelstein: Rapid Fire Reviews
These are three electronic music projects that I have a lot of respect and admiration for. Had I not been so sick and busy I would have definitely covered these albums in full but I still want to get my feelings out there on all of them.
Three - Four Tet
Even though I've been a Four Tet fan for a long time it's been a while since I was truly blown away by something he released. He's pretty consistent, but I find myself always hoping for more high-end material. That seemed like it would continue to be the case when I came away from the record's singles feeling just okay. That was made even worse when I realized that my favorite Four Tet single in years, Mango Feedback, also wasn't appearing on the album, though it seems like elements of it were reworked into the single Daydream Repeat, although I'm not positive.
After beginning with a dancier cut in Loved the album shifts its focus towards ambient. That's not a complaint as I've enjoyed quite a bit of Kieren's ambient outings in the past and the second half of Storm Crystals in particular provides surreal sweeps of texture bliss that I appreciate quite a bit. It even has some delayed drums that come in to back the glistening key phrases which is quite a pleasant surprise. I think the record ends on a strong note too. So Blue is a highlight with some of my favorite sonic moments on the record and even though I wasn't crazy about Three Drums as a single I started to appreciate it more and more as an album closer.
One of my biggest complaints even with the moments I like on this album is how familiar they sound as a Four Tet fan. Sure a lot of the beats will always run towards a typical sound but many of the sonic textures on this album remind me distinctly of previous works in his discography. This 8-rack album is certainly compelling and pleasant to listen to, plus it serves up some memorable moments. But ultimately I think it falls short of landing in the upper echelon of Four Tet's discography. 6.5/10
Akoma - Jlin
I've always been a fan of Jlin's and while I enjoyed the Perspective EP from last year I'm pretty glad we're getting a more proper follow-up to Black Origami in the form of a full-length album. I also enjoyed the singles from the record, in particular the deeply unsettling Summon, but I also enjoyed the album's closer The Precision Of Infinity. The album opens with the surprise Bjork-featuring Borealis which features all of the hallmarks of grinding electronic friction I've come to associate with Jlin. That momentum keeps up into Speed Of Darkness which is such a bouncy and vibrant song it would feel completely out of place on the record if not for some of the sour glitchy textures firing off around it in every direction.
As you'd expect there's deployment of interesting influences all over the record, particularly in the middle. Sometimes it goes incredibly well like my favorite deep cut of the bunch Iris. But that's followed later by two experiments in percussion Challenge and Eye Am that I'm a lot less crazy about. Thankfully I think the record ends on a pretty strong note with a four-song run I like quite a bit highlighted by Grannie's Cherry Pie. While this album may not have left my jaw on the floor quite as often as its predecessor, the creative spirit is absolutely still here. The record is fundamentally electronic music but the styles and sounds it's willing to venture out to in order to craft unique sonic experiences throughout are impressively wide-ranging. What results is an album that refuses to settle but one that never feels like it needs to. Jlin's continued eye for detail makes most of these songs add up to even more than the great ideas they're built on. 7.5/10
Gamma - Gesaffelstein
Gesaffelstein is a producer who I'm quite fond of, when he's working as a producer. Or as a live DJ for that matter where he puts on a can't-miss set. His work with Kanye West and The Weeknd and recently with Lil Nas X and Charli XCX has been consistently impressive. But as far as his own solo output, I've been a lot more mixed. Sure he has one absolute classic song under his belt with Pursuit and I liked his Novo Sonic System EP, but it still feels like he doesn't have an album that lives up to his full potential. Going into Gamma I kind of knew it wasn't going to be that album.
The record seeks to fuse Gesaffelstein's industrial club sound with the more conventional song structures and flavors of 80s synth pop. He recruits vocalist Yon Wagner for numerous songs here and while his vocals do very obviously seek a goth and new wave-inspired inflection at points, I was surprised by how often he feels like a classic glam rock singer on this record. The combination is EXTREMELY awkward and his performance alone can make for the difference between a bad song like Hard Dreams and a great song like Your Share Of The Night which comes right after it. Unfortunately, those performances that don't fit in at all make for some of the roughest moments on the record with songs like Lost Love and The Perfect.
Make no mistake there are absolutely some worthwhile moments in the mix here. Gesaffelstein remains an excellent producer and when he dials into his electronic roots he serve up numerous hard-hitting club anthems. Mania is a driving piece of electronica with surprisingly high-reaching synths soaring over an absolutely pummeling beat. Both Hysteria and Tyranny have some of the grinding electronic pressure erupting into bombastic moments that has become sort of a hallmark of Gesaffelstein. I admire what Gesaffelstein attempts on this record and I hate criticizing someone for consciously stepping outside of their comfort zone. But throughout the tracklist of Gamma the further he wanders from expectation, the less compelling the music becomes. Occasionally that even dips into some of the most awkward mismatches of sound and style that I've heard all year. He's still a name I'll be excited to see in production credits, but I can't imagine myself returning to this album much. 5/10
