FOUR ALBUMS

Clockwise from upper left: In the Middle of the Night by Khidja; Source by Gábor Lázár; Civic Jams by Darkstar; and Articulation by Rival Consoles.

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These four albums have helped keep me sane during the past couple of months. They've been musical companions in the late evening and early morning hours when the rest of the household is soundly sleeping.

In the early months of the pandemic, I found myself reading a lot (especially poetry and short stories), praying, and walking. As a quasi-normal sense of routine and rhythm returned to my workplace and home, I found less time spent on reading (mostly due to exhaustion) and walking (due to injury). I purchased a turntable so that I could play vinyl albums that I hadn't been able to spin for nearly twenty years.

Each of these albums is unique from the others, even as I believe they share some similarities. (1) There is a dreamlike quality to the tracks. (2) The tracks are individual, but function almost as parts of a larger movement. This is something that I enjoy about albums (and find it more prevalent on vinyl than other formats), but it seems that is lacking in many current productions. (3) Tracks are primarily instrumental, and when vocals are present they tend to function as another instrument alongside the synthesizers, sequencers, percussion, programming, and other electronics.

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Album: In the Middle of the Night.
Artist: Khidja.
Label: DFA.
Category: Experimental house and techno.

Tracks:

1. Don't Feed the Animals (Hiding in Your Room).
2. Devil Dance.
3. I Can Never Relax.
4. I'm So Bored.

Favorite track: "I Can Never Relax." There is something slightly off-kilter, bordering on sinister but then pulling back, that intrigues me. Plus the electronic throb that undergirds the piece just grabs me from the beginning. "Tell me, can you feel good?"

I don't know how to explain how much this album has captured my imagination since I stumbled upon it's tracks in a late-night internet rabbit hole. All 25½ minutes of the album speaks directly to my id/shadow.

More album info HERE and HERE.

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Album: Source.
Artist: Gábor Lázár.
Label: Planet Mu.
Category: Electronic and electronica. Braindance and IDM (intelligent dance music).

Tracks:

1. Source.
2. Stream.
3. Phase.
4. Excite.
5. Focus.
6. Effort.
7. Route.
8. Return.

Favorite track: "Focus." At times I hear echoes of Aphex Twin in these beats, which is a good thing.

This is deconstructed dance music that is simultaneously academic/clinical and emotional/approachable. The album collapses time—looking back at types of electronic dance music (past), living in the moment as a piece of art in it's own right (present), and providing tracks for other DJs to sample (future). I think the album functions as an examination of the "sources" of music that influenced Lázár and as a "source" for others to build upon.

More album info HERE and HERE.

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Album: Civic Jams.
Artist: Darkstar.
Label: Warp.
Category: Electronic and electronica. Shoegaze.

Tracks:

1. Forest.
2. Jam.
3. 1001.
4. 30.
5. Wolf.
6. Loon.
7. Tuesday.
8. Text.
9. Blurred.

Favorite track: "1001." The vocals on this track are catchy, dreamy, and, for the most part, undecipherable. There is so much manipulation on the vocals that they easily become one with the insistent percussive beat and "low growl" and "ethereal hum" synthesizers that ground the track.

Dream-oriented dance music with pop leanings, this music has been haunting me both while I sleep and while I'm awake.

More album info HERE and HERE.

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Album: Articulation.
Artist: Rival Consoles.
Label: Erased Tapes.
Cateogory: Electronic and electronica. Dancefloor and techno.

Tracks:

1. Vibrations on a String.
2. Forwardism.
3. Melodica.
4. Articulation.
5. Still Here.
6. Sudden Awareness of Now.

Favorite track: "Vibrations on a String." I love the squelch of the organic synthesizers, the metronomic precision of the percussion, and the light throb in the background. At times, this reminds me of some of Orbital's work or even something I would expect to hear in another Blade Runner sequel.

There is a playfulness on this album, perhaps even a hopefulness, if one can identify such in instrumental music. The album is sequenced perfectly; I cannot imagine it laid out otherwise. Every time I listen to the album I discover new sounds buried within the tracks. Something seems to emerge anew each time the needle hits the grooves.

More album info HERE and HERE.

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I've been listening these albums just for the pure enjoyment of the albums themselves, as well as when I'm writing or painting. I've even been experimenting with new painting techniques, using the time constraints of individuals tracks to see what I can do with a palette knife and various colors of India ink while the track plays.