Eleven tracks of cerebral electro that manage to adhere to the essential format while pushing its boundaries in interesting ways. At once timeless and always futuristic sounding, the soundtrack to a world where robots have taught themselves to dance.
Cerebral electro from the Pacific Northwest.
How best to explain the enduring appeal of electro? The essential structure was laid out almost half a century ago: snare hits on the first beat of the second and fourth bar to anchor the groove, the kick drum anticipates the beat to create tension, and unapologetically robotic synths set the futuristic mood.
From Kraftwerk’s “Numbers” to Afrika Bambaataa’s “Planet Rock” and the legion of 808-driven imitators, innovators, and recontextualizers up to the present day, the electro genre continues to evolve while still remaining true to its origins. Chris Roman has been immersed in this ongoing evolution since the early 2000s, with releases under the name 214 on genre stalwarts Touchin’ Bass, Central Processing Unit, and Shipwrec. He returns to 20/20 Vision for his latest outing, Exposure to Winds, eleven tracks of cerebral electro that manage to adhere to the essential format while pushing its boundaries in interesting ways.
The tracks are layered with textural elements, subtle percussive effects, and masterful breakdowns and builds, kicking off immediately with “Alpenglow.” The rugged bassline sets the tone but layers of dubby atmosphere provide depth and emotion. The BPMs drop slightly on the album’s title track, weaving into a slippery, arpeggiated groove backed by washes of ambience. The album’s uniformly excellent, but standout tracks are “Penny’s Crimped Funk” which evokes the stark machine groove of the aforementioned “Numbers” but layers on metallic, industrial vibes; and “Break Before Dark,” whose massive low end growl will give your woofers a serious workout.
Repeated listenings to Exposure To Winds helps answer the question I posed at the outset—how is it we still find electro interesting and engaging after all these years? You could easily mix these tracks alongside the progenitors of the style to move between the 1980s and 2020s without dropping a single whipcrack snare hit. It’s at once timeless and always futuristic sounding, the soundtrack to a world where robots have taught themselves to dance.
Exposure to Winds is available on 20/20 Vision. [Juno]
