Intercal is bleak and involving, warm and estranging; in short, everything good electronic music should be.
Morphology have been quiet of late. After years of serious productivity the Finnish duo have been focusing on solo productions of late, both Michael Diekmann and Matti Turunen dishing out their own projects for labels like Muhk and AC Records. But after the brief hiatus the twosome are returning to vinyl and opening the 2014 Central Processing Unit account with Intercal.
The familiar four tracker is the format. The record opens with the title piece. Glacial snares cut like frozen rain, piercing through a mist of static. The shrill arctic air is tempered, warm chords lazily weaving their way through this 4/4 ice. “Dark Flow” enters meekly, that ever splintering snare being its only discernible muscle. But that initial shyness is shook off as Diekmann and Turunen dig deep, excavating bass and a wonderfully fragile harmony for a powerful piece. “Zilog Z80” makes its towering presence known from the outset, formidable bass bordered by a shredding rhythm arrangement. A slow, plodding 303 line adds even more weight to this grey gargantuan. That Morphology majesty is wielded to the very end. “Cobol” sees that trademark coldness blended superbly with glass like chords for an ephemeral work of electronics. For those of you of a digital persuasion there is some extra post stocking gifts. “Dust Solution” is dream filled, clipped beats coursing through shimmering droplets of Dub. It’s a pity that there wasn’t space for “Floating Points” as it is a cracker. Those warbling bars present in “Dust Solution” are forced further by searching drum machine patterns and a ghosting melody.
I keep on expecting Morphology to hit a creative cul de sac. I’m not wishing this on the Finns, far from it, but Electro can be such a defined sound that creativity can be hampered. But I’m glad to say that this duo keep proving me wrong. Intercal is bleak and involving, warm and estranging; in short, everything good electronic music should be.
Intercal is available on Central Processing Unit.
