Ay Fast :: Nice Arps (Schematic Music Company)

With thirteen electrical abrasions on offer, Ay Fast certainly knows how to conjoin and segregate rhythms for an engaging, mind-altering exploratory sojourn.

Adrian Bertolone (aka Ay Fast) unveiled Nice Arps back in November 2012—a sophomore release for Schematic Music Company—so in terms of our current immediate-fix generation, this is an older title which should still be acknowledged for its distinct production techniques.

What’s in store for Nice Arps is a series relatively short pieces—all in the two to three minute range—that feel more like scattered dream sequences sparking into and out of focus. Take “Shit Tahiti,” for example; in only 50-seconds Ay Fast creates a chip-tune interruption that is immediately accessible and oddly amusing. Melodic granules and a clicks’n cuts sheen evolves on “Ooky Pooky” courtesy of a few broken synth lines as lost didgeridoo echoes are exposed on the tight-knit “Buffy Dragon.” “Travis” is regenerated into three crackling segments featuring burbling soundtrack vistas and experimental flux strewn from similar musical threads. There’s a Colongib versus Pacman flavoring on “For Shemmmm” where funky video game extracts are chiseled into weaving electro formations at its closure. “Escaglade” emits a simmering industrial timbre tied to various field recordings and random conversations amidst fractured beats. “Blue Rabs” is replete with abstract acoustic percussion and wobbling low-end vibration but doesn’t fall anywhere near the dubstep arena.

With thirteen electrical abrasions on offer, Ay Fast certainly knows how to conjoin and segregate rhythms for an engaging, mind-altering exploratory sojourn.

Nice Arps is available on Schematic Music Company.