Michael Morton has been known to create and insect sound as if it were part of an imploding entity in nature. Delivering severely altered fragments of shadowed electronics, slivers of melodies are transmitted with ease and control –never really becoming overly saturated by the crust of each beat, or faded by pulsating rhythms. Following up from his debut full-length (Moon_Phase, M-Tronic), Arroyo has within it, a more detailed and varied scope of electrical energy that transforms and recreates itself within a matter of 70+ minutes.
“Transit” opens with classical ambience; unveiling decomposed percussion and deeply emotional shards of rhythm. “Disconnected” has a permeating, almost hypnotizing effect; its subliminal female whispers and whipped beats elevate and migrate into the brain transparently. “Fueled” reveals a grittier feeling; the buzzing bassline, drenched percussion and tapering organic tweaks are all somehow molded into a dizzying mesh of electronic aggression and passion. The title track manifests its digital funk with slithering bass, darkened hip-hop and tweaked melodies that simply magnetizes this masterpiece. Dither’s remix of the title track pulls away from the percussive flow of the original piece by creating its altered atmospheric cousin; subliminally activating a downtempo rhythm, Dither’s view of “Arroyo” is a landscape of organic mysteries and confused realities. Mike Wells (1/2 of Gridlock fame) offers up a remix of “Artificial Living” using his o2 moniker. An emotionally charged body of sound is the result; classical ambience, synaptic beat work and subtle melodies collide into each other as if they were reunited after years of separation. Flint Glass’ remix of “Fueled” takes on a similar atmospheric groove as Dither’s; this time around, the weaving ambiences are matched up with fractured beats nearing the end –closing off Arroyo with a cacophony of solid electronic propulsion.
All in all, you can’t really go wrong with Displacer. Accepting the fact that Gridlock comparisons are close at hand, Arroyo has a warm and consistent feeling from beginning to end. It’s a sculpture of musical artwork that consistently utilizes flowing rhythms in the post-industrial sector of audio regeneration.
Arroyo is out now on M-Tronic.
