Ion Driver :: Waves (Addictech)

Dennis Bunton’s multi-instrumentalist talent on acoustic guitar and piano and his ability to draw elements from a wide array of electronic styles set this release squarely in our crosshairs; his skill at constructing complicated grooves that engage both mind and hips will keep it on our playlists for months to come.

This release came to us via Addictech, who are both releasing the album on their label and distributing it through the Addictech.com digital store. I visited Ion Driver‘s Soundcloud page and quickly got sucked into both Dennis Bunton’s back catalogue of other releases and longform radio/DJ mixes as well as this entrancing, genre-bending release.

“First Verse” acts as an invocation of sorts; it’s a lovely acoustic piano piece led by a music-box ornamented melody that, half way through, showcases a virtuosic display of gentle arpeggios. With his classical music bonafides firmly established, Bunton moves into the electronic realm with “Deep Sands.” A cavernous rimshot reverberates, a mournful harmonica wails, then a gently strummed flamenco acoustic guitar propels us into track. The round sub-bass and skeletal percussion remind me of the Exit Records school of drum-n-bass but the guitar work elevates this track into its own category.

As the gentle Catalonian strumming of “Deep Sands” fades, we’re thrust onto the dancefloor for the center of the EP. “Dirt” is a dense, driving affair featuring a fat LFO’ed bass, a severely glitched-up vocal break, and a jamming electro beat that would do the Rotter’s Golf Club proud. “ElectroMagnetism” loops micro-precise percussion and huge bass hits under its main feature: a complicated, sliced-and-reassembled sample of an acoustic instrument. Then it’s back into more ambient territory with “Steady” where vocal fragments and hints of a breakbeat occasionally emerge from a murky drone, only to be swallowed up again.

One thing I really enjoy about Ion Driver’s work is its genre-crossing stylistic experimentation, exemplified by “Forward”: there’s a dubstep feel to the bass tone, a churning techno/idm beat (but with a tabla breakdown in the middle!) and electro-acoustic elements such as struck bells and chimes that are unusual but never feel out of place. “Tuner” finds Dennis Bunton back on the guitar, but unlike the flamenco stylings of “Deep Sands”, this track has a steel-stringed acoustic leading the way with a mix of swept chords and picked lines that evoke the classic Spaghetti westerns. Finally “Sounding” rounds off the offering with field recordings and white noise sound design.

One of the things we at Igloo strive to do is highlight electronic releases which stand out from the crowd due to their musicality and emotional impact. Ion Driver’s Waves scores big on both of these axes. Dennis Bunton’s multi-instrumentalist talent on acoustic guitar and piano and his ability to draw elements from a wide array of electronic styles set this release squarely in our crosshairs; his skill at constructing complicated grooves that engage both mind and hips will keep it on our playlists for months to come.

Waves is available on Addictech. [Release page]