A descent, yes, but definitely some ascension in amongst the charcoal clad visage of man, and his machine.
It’s not easy forming sentences in 35°C heat. It’s hard enough mouthing requests for beers to a sleepy waiter, harder to go from thought to physical to type to text. Nevertheless, we persevere; and with good cause. In 2012 Electronique.it released one of my favorite 12”s of that year, the superbly deep and retrospective The Expressions of Emotions in Man and Animals EP. With the sweat falling from any angular body part, so drops The Descent of Man and the end of the trilogy.
The prelapsarian prelude arrives with Nursiø, a moniker of Italian outfit Commodity Place. “Pholus” comes from a place being explored by the likes of Heinrich Dressel and Steve Moore. John Carpenter, Fabio Frizzi and Goblin are obvious points of reference for this bubbling piece of sinister atmospherics—an epic work of soundtrack styled synthesis. If Nursiø begin the descent, The Exaltics step from the shadows, chains in hand, to add weight to the fall. Beats are built into one another, metallic distortion bordering into Industrial-Techno territory. Rallying shots are fired across bows to amplify the intensity of this nose bleed belter. Methodical thumps squirm under charred chords for Healing Force Project’s “Average Apogee.” Slowed, dense House is the being on display. Horror keys lap against the pitched back Chicago structure, aches of Acid haunting in the inchoate alleyways of this blacked piece. A new name closes. Büromaschinen is Lorenzo Ceccotti. A measured pace characterizes “Thalamus Hardware Conversion”—soulful electronica is delivered with crisp beats against shimmering sweet chords.
The heat reminds people of some of their body and with it their humanness, alongside some of the vulgarity attached to the condition. Divinity is never envisioned with a decent hum of B.O. and back hair. The press release for The Descent of Man speaks of a focus on the “darkest side of electronic music.” Some of the more ashen moments are undoubtedly explored, The Healing Force create an acrid lather that could give some baser body fluids a run for their moment. But the EP is beautifully balanced, especially with Büromaschinen’s emotive finale. A descent, yes, but definitely some ascension in amongst the charcoal clad visage of man, and his machine.
The Descent of Man is available on Electronique.it.
