A fine assemblage of spellbinding organic electronic music that draws on the past with an audible viscosity and daringly looks straight into the future of the ever-expanding IDM genre.
One thing is certain, Purlieu is chock-full of variety and abundance. Within a half-dozen tracks, Peninsolar erupts a myriad of found sounds, electronic fissures, and instrumental segues. Where past releases had a slow-motion glitch focus, his latest breaks the mold and interacts with the audience with an affective, crackling, and lilting mood.
Harking back to the peak of IDM’s stronghold in the early 2000’s, “Paces” delivers a Detroit-inspired synth-line that hypnotizes with looping chimes and brittle melodies. In line with early-era Herrmann & Kleine production (ref. Our Noise, Morr Music—2002 ), “Ian Of The Caribbean” embarks on a splendid downtempo sojourn through life—crunchy percussion and a dreamlike semi-shoegaze lullaby for mind and body, here we witness the artist elevating the art of organic musical formation. On the Squarepusher jazz/lounge-electronic side, “Plovers of Hedy Lamarr” (a pioneer in the field of wireless communications) dives into ricocheted beats, bass, distortion, and misty piano notes weaving a mesmerizing and casually chaotic stream.
Changing gears slightly for further sonic experimentation, “Everything On An Even Keel” administers similar electronic-pop sensibilities as “Ian Of The Caribbean,” however, it breaks down and dissolves like a fuzzy, nostalgic daydream in its short runtime. To say that Peninsolar’s signature mix of seemingly disparate sound sources would yield repetition is far from the truth on this 36-minute extended player. The swirling noise cacophony found on “Monday Asks, Mondays Last” may seem blisteringly in-your-face, but if you let the rich outpouring of melodious sounds coalesce, it rewards the consciousness with newfound memories once buried in the far recesses of the heart and mind. At last, the title track slips into fragmented glitch layers—its shuffling beats spread across flickering high hats and next level sound design encapsulate the clean error vision of the imprint.
Purlieu, as a result, is a fine assemblage of spellbinding organic electronic music that draws on the past with an audible viscosity and daringly looks straight into the future of the ever-expanding IDM genre.
Purlieu is available on Clean Error.
