Colorado’s Jonathon Canupp follows up from his An Hour Brighter album (U_Cover) with the aptly titled companion and/or counterpart. Companion may still initiate the (usual?) Boards of Canada frequencies, however, it should be noted that T&T also captures life-changing memories rolled into a sphere of sampled soundscapes and unusually attractive melodies. The opening “Get Set” and “With Water from Hawaii” reveal the intricate atmospheres of found-sound textures while “Harold’s Quiet Adventure” and “Creature Called Fire” manifest hollow beat-structures and rhythmic flows. Tracks such as “Very Same Paradox” and “One By Four By Nine” are cropped pieces of audio oddities layered with subtle vocal elements and splashes of psychedelic ambience. It’s a formula that Ten And Tracer has kept true to form, without breaking new territory -he encapsulates his sound and grows within it.
By far, one of the highlights on Companion is the emotionally warped chant of “A Strange World For Milo and Tock;” this piece disassociates itself from the others by combining a more detailed percussive loop enriched with a haunted analog rumble. “Growing Aqua” also delivers a rhythmic punch and propelling beat-work, but it simply ends too quickly to digest in one take. As is the trend lately, three remixes are also attached –the rendering experimental flux of Ontayso’s 10-minute audio journey with Helios and Kettel providing interpretations of emotively charged soundtrack ambiences closing off this disc.
Blurring the lines between experimental electronica and skewed textures, Companion may not necessarily connect with all of your emotions, instead it creatively colors certain moments in life with vivid sounds you may have forgotten, or even knew existed.
Ten And Tracer tours this Fall in Europe with Tim Koch, Ontayso + Kettel.
Companion is out now on U_Cover Records.
