Adventures In Nature is a brisk foray into vintage electronic rhythms with all the right notes falling into place exquisitely. I just hope Faex Optim branches out beyond what Sandison and Eoin have traversed so well.
Wesley MacDonald (aka Faex Optim) has amassed quite a musical catalog with Magic Square a new home that he and label mate Elijah Franks (aka PBS’73) founded in 2017. The aptly-titled Adventures In Nature reveals four tracks spread over about 15-mins of fuzzy instrumental slices with a direct nod to the godfather’s of nostalgic downtempo tunage—Boards Of Canada. Also a short film by Chris Cox, Adventures In Nature features an original soundtrack by Faex Optim.
“Opposite World” crackles with heavy bass-beats, melodic loops, subtle wind instruments, and swirling notes—it’s the buried vocal samples that create a full and serene soundscape on this piece. “Drifts” could have been pulled from a long-lost The Campfire Headphase extract (“Hey Saturday Sun” anyone?)—guitar loops flow into the creek just behind the trees. “The Sea and Me,” perhaps the crowning achievement of the lot, features samples of kids voices low in the mix as large-scale downtempo beats maneuver in the foreground—I’m pretty sure there’s a glimpse of the Boards’ “…yeah, that’s right” sample floating about. “Wilderness Pattern” carefully weaves a melodic glimpse into the past, synthesizers warmed up and cycling through cascading drums—this track takes us back through time.
Adventures In Nature is a brisk foray into vintage electronic rhythms with all the right notes falling into place exquisitely. I just hope Faex Optim branches out beyond what Sandison and Eoin have traversed so well. While Simon Reynolds once described BOC as “a hazy sound of smeared synth-tones and analog-decayed production, carried by patient, sleepwalking beats, and aching with nostalgia,” so too does Faex Optim on this short but tranquil visual-audio jaunt.
Adventures In Nature is available on Magic Square.
