What's a Listening Log? Well, the idea is quite simple. It's a weekly segment that consolidates all the mini-reviews Dozens Of Donuts has given on RateYourMusic over the past week, split between the Past and Present. A straightforward grading scale has been put in place, ranging from A+ to F-, with C acting as the baseline average. There is no set amount of reviews per week, just however many I get around to reviewing. And don't expect week-of reviews. I wait one month - with at least three listens under my belt - before I rate and review an album. Enjoy!
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As with many unearthed Ambient and Drone projects in my catalogue, Rafael Anton Irisarri's Peripeteia entered my consciousness off visual aesthetic alone. A harsh, yet oppressively-soothing red hue dons what looks to be an alien planet. Mars overwrought with blood particles, if you will. That aesthetic can be extended across all nine songs here, as the domineering Dark Ambient that ebbs and flows like the comings and goings of an acid rain storm on Venus or the Great Red Spot on Jupiter elicits a brooding, otherworldly beauty that's captured in extremes. Yes, these songs abide by a singular structure. That of persistent, riding build. Excluding the 42-minute title track, which acts like an extended slideshow of panoramic landscapes, and is one of my least favorites if only for the exhausting duration alone.
But I digress. Rafael Anton Irisarri's relative success erupts in the atmosphere, much like Tim Hecker, whose more ominous pieces (Mirages, Harmony In Ultraviolet) impel with chest-pressing heaviness. However, the closest comparison has to be Hildur Guðnadóttir's soundtrack for 2019's Chernobyl. If there's ever a place on Earth to correlate the vicious, necrosis of Peripeteia, it's Chernobyl. The static twinkling of synthesizers, acting as persistent droplets of radiation ('Yearn'), in accordance with monumental string arrangements ('Refuge / Refuse'), give Peripeteia an imposing, theatrical stature. One that reflects planetary enormity and the outer space void quite well. At times, like 'Arduous Clarity' and parts of the title track, Irisarri enlists the ideas of Gas' lumbering, Techno underbelly. Except far better, mind you. Peripeteia's insistence in tone and boundless gravity help convey the sincerity at hand, something many Drone artists fail to consider.
C
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2020 | UK Bass | Listen
RELISHING THE REGALIA OF THIRD-WORLD FESTIVITIES
Within the realm of UK Bass, Clap! Clap! has his own aesthetic. Well, really any notable producer in the genre does too, but Cristiano Crisci's is entirely singular, merging modernized Footwork with the polyrhythms found across Africa. It has been his niche since 2014's Tayi Bebba, with deviation being minimal. In fact, 2017's A Thousand Skies did little more than expand upon the sound captured there, elongating it on treasured tracks like 'Ode To The Pleiades' and thrusting brute force, stampeding drums on 'Nguwe' and 'Centripetal.' Liquid Portraits, by contrast, is a more lackadaisical affair. Heavy hitters are few and far between, with 'Liquid Mantra' and 'Southern Dub' acting as the proverbial standouts. However, the impact is cheapened despite Clap! Clap!'s improvement with dense texture and complex percussion because of the concept of diminishing returns. It feels manufactured at this point, and not free-wheeling like the wild he so chooses to elucidate.
As per usual, pacing and ear-tickling production are his calling card, and one won't find disappointment in that regard. The breakneck flow in the first half, giving way to a more meditative transformation come the second, allows Liquid Portraits to feel more human than past affairs. The vocal performances - similarly performed as on previous projects - are outmatched when lovable vocal samples from native children emerge ('Hokkaido's Farewell Portrait,' 'Blue Flower'), but that may just be my preference. In theory, Liquid Portraits does nothing wrong. But much like contemporaries dabbling in a specific, atmospheric landscape (Emancipator, Gidge, 2 8 1 4), staleness grows with each ensuing record.
C
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2020 | Progressive Electronic | Listen
SPINNING IN A CIRCLE UNTIL DIZZINESS CONSUMES ALL
If you're like me, a passerby of Ambient curious of the genre's intrinsic value but often let down by its lack of excitement, may I point you in the direction of Inventions' 2015 release Maze Of Woods. Cold, atmospheric Ambient with bouts of serene and piercing beauty that revels in humanity's push against extremes. With static acting as a persistent gust of wind, much akin to Tim Hecker's works, Inventions' toiled onwards in pursuit of glory, best seen on standouts 'Springworlds' and 'A Wind From All Directions.' How does Continuous Portrait compare? Not so promising, though their incorporation of daunting, Post-Rock tendencies is still present. What Continuous Portrait lacks is that frigid atmosphere that bores Inventions' identity.
Really, I struggle to see an identity whatsoever as these songs stray from one Progressive Electronic fixture to another. 'Hints & Omens' and 'Spirit Refinement Exploder' overwhelm the senses much in the way of Clark, while nautical curiosities emerge in 'Calico' and 'Outlook For The Future.' The latter, with its jaunty melody and euphoric vibe, happens to be my favorite, while each of these four represent Continuous Portrait's best. Less intrusive affairs like 'Continuous Portrait' and 'Close To People' find Inventions conceding to the vacuum of Ambient, offering little in the way of adventure. As with previous efforts, their choice selection of vocal samples - and more precisely, how they've interwoven into the ethereal fabric - is close to unmatched. Each sample is mysterious, lonely, and acute to the sensations Inventions manifest. This is where their music is heightened, and that much is present on Continuous Portrait, though held in lesser regard than what appeared on Maze Of Woods.
B-
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