Drop a handful of marbles into an empty barrel, stir them up and mix equal parts rattling beats, digital clips and razor sharp melodies and what do you get? None other than the second release on North Carolina’s Unschooled Records by electronic recording artist John Gulino (a.k.a. Doofgoblin). Doofgoblin’s “Frazed” (featured on Unschooled Records’ Enter V.1 Compilation CD) made a lasting impact by opening with ricocheting beats glued to a polished, uplifting melody and rumbling bassline. It’s all inside the structures, really; Gulino knows how to manipulate digitally enhanced sounds with relative ease and Marblebarrel is one such example.
Elements of sizzling electrical clicks appear on tracks like “End of January” and “Start of February,” but upon reading the press release, a small insiders note is included: These two tracks were “composed almost entirely of wintry sounds collected from a wood-burning stove.” But that’s not all you get on Marblebarrel; “Recovery” and “Whurly Bored” consecutively placed as track #10 and #11 both seem to compliment one another. “Recovery” unfolds into a mysteriously crafted, organically confused ambient piece while “Whurly Bored” passes by with its alien-morse-code wave of densely layered tweaks. Just when Marblebarrel‘s unobtrusive vibe begins to veer into a winding multi-directional path, “Sickdeigh” and “Coppersheen” pick up the pace by dipping Lexaunculpt styled electro-bits in line with thick, watery basslines. The ending epic, “Mike Flood’s Kitchen” begins with a swirling beat manifesto of subtle drill’n bass with vocals complimenting its pace. This track slowly fades away into several minutes of silence until a defused hip-hop groove (Autechre style) tweaks its way from obscurity to the ever so clever sound-escape of corrupted beats and stretched rhythms.
There’s a clean and concise form vs. structure on Doofgoblin’s debut album. Combining elements from a wide range of abstract sounds, Marblebarrel is an abrasive electronic entity that never goes stale. Gulino’s definitive style is sure to raise the bar for up-and-coming electronic musicians trying to capture a similar aesthetic.
Marblebarrel is OUT NOW on Unschooled Records.
