(01.25.09) What? Yes, quite. Surprise! It’s a new Toytronic album, and you’d be forgiven for not seeing it coming; this is the first full release from the label since Infinite Scale’s Sound Sensor EP back in 2005.
I once made the mistake of assuming that Point 7 was an artist new to the label when album highlight “Higher Contrast Information” appeared on Toytronic’s Everything is Green compilation. As it turns out, this is the moniker of label-owner Chris Cunningham in solo-mode, as opposed to his collaboration with Martin Haidinger: Abfahrt Hinwil. This makes sense, then, of the absolutely archetypal nature of Point 7’s material. It is the blueprint of the Toytronic sound, and those who have missed Toytronic’s output over the last few years have every reason to be excited about the imminent release of What?.
If you’re expecting to hear a bold new direction for the label, you’ll be disappointed, but lets face it… how likely is that? What? retains everything that is at the heart and soul of the label – that genre-defining Toytronic sound – and brings it bang up to date. There have been many artists that have released crazed, hyper-complex bleeptronica over the years, but Toytronic were always at the cutting edge, setting the benchmark. This was borne out by the crazy collectability of Toytronics’ early releases, so small in number and released in such limited quantities. Its scant few releases mean that there simply isn’t a wealth of classic Toytronica, especially given the different directions in which the label started reaching over its latter releases. Its all distilled into a small number of classic albums and EPs. It is for this reason among many others that this new Toytronic release is such a welcome one. For those who always wanted more: here it is, new and improved.
What? manages to tick pretty much all the boxes across its ten (often surprisingly long) tracks, leaving no stone unturned in its journey through electronica history. Whether it’s the hedonistic, rave-fuelled grime of “Bit Loop Eddie,” which flails and swelters, tearing itself to shreds amidst a hail of frenzied laser-fire, or the cavernous chill space through which one is gracefully propelled on the “15th of July” as eddies of mist whirl above dark waters. Whether it be the complex weave of bleeps, glitches and melancholy pads that form “Space Formula,” one of the albums purest Toytronic moments, or the pitch-bent, sky-soaring synths of “X Insert”… Whether its the giant pulsing heartbeat, growling pads, coruscating keys and chattering hi-hats of “Remember Now”, or the fleeting tension block of “One Movie.” There is a little bit of everything in What?
Even better still are some of the albums extended moments. “A Computer” kicks off in a fashion reminiscent of latter day Gimmik, and the computer elements creep in slowly but steadily until the whole is subsumed in machine-gone-mad electro-chatter and galloping percussion. “Ous” opts for an altogether more ominous and heftily rhythmic approach, as a totally enveloping bass drone underpins the breaks and the drifting, menace-filled melody. If What? has an iconic moment, though, it is “Hacker IP.” This is a moment of pure Toytronic perfection as melancholy piano keys fall like rain onto a powerhouse of massive, indomitable, motoring beats, wailing sirens and searing fx.
What? is one of the most complete Toytronic releases to date, and hearing this sound again in such a brilliantly crafted and wonderfully extended form is sheer bliss. Its seemingly endless references are coupled with enough invention to ensure that no moment is overextended or anything other than essential, making What? a catalogue of everything that makes Toytronic great. For this reason you cannot afford to miss this. Purchase without hesitation.
What? is out now on Toytronic. [Listen & Buy]
