Ataxia exhibits a powerful foray by which the listener is taken through a whirlwind of sonic trajectories and minimal audio therapeutics in the shape of veiled techno forms.
Claustrophobic techno mutations
Portland, Oregon-based Matthew Mercer returns with a sprawling and subdued album titled Ataxia. Described as dancefloor-adjacent, the hypnotic loops and roughened beats surrounding ravaged bass echoes are wrapped into eight unique pieces bringing forth an uncertain energy about them.
The warped and wobbly technoid slivers that persist throughout Ataxia can’t be ignored. Take the title track as a prime example. The sounds of scraped and distorted guitars layered above minimal 4/4 beats are pulled by an invisible undertow. Ataxia takes strange dips and dives through minimal techno extracts (“Lethologica” is one such beast) that while rummaging through dilapidated drones, a pulsing beat takes charge, pushing a blurry melody through the fog.
And that is at the heart of this album—fizzing microscopic percussion continues to layer itself just above tranquilized synth tones and off-kilter rhythms. It’s as if Matthew Mercer intended the album to run its course, through claustrophobic techno mutations (“Aphasia” and “Revok”) to more experimental strains (“Outer Cortex” and “Phosphenes”).
Overall, Ataxia exhibits a powerful foray by which the listener is taken through a whirlwind of sonic trajectories and minimal audio therapeutics in the shape of veiled techno forms.
Ataxia is available on Bandcamp.
