Steven Rutter - From Me To You

FireScope: 2017

I've reviewed a few artists on FireScope now, but still haven't gotten to the head of the label running the show, B12. Um, I'm still technically not here either, but will a B12 member suffice? What's interesting is, if Lord Discogs is to be believed, this particular EP is the first time since the way-early years of British techno that Mr. Rutter has done solo work. That's... almost unfathomable. Has he never wanted to explore a different sound away from his B12 partner? Like, surely the Plaid boys have done separate work in their spare time. Orbital brothers scratching singular itches specific to their distinct muses. Richard D. James splitting into his individual Richard, D., and James components for associated aliases. I suppose 'better later than never', and considering Michael Golding doesn't have much to do with B12 these days anyway, well...

Oh, did I not mention B12 is mostly a Rutter joint now? Heh, how remiss of me.

Anyhow, after launching FireScope with a run of B12 EPs and re-issues (gotta' lure in the old-schoolers, natch), Rutter started branching out with productions under his own name, beginning with this particular EP, From Me To You. I think the reasoning for this was he wanted to explore sounds away from the classic B12 style (as I said!), though if I'm honest, I suspect he was still unsure of exactly where such explorations should go.

True, I'm far from a B12 expert, but I've sampled enough of their sound to know From Me To You is a rather timid first step out from the duo's long shadow. That's not a bad thing though, as you could always count on them for classy, chill techno with a Detroit bent, and if more of that is what Rutter is giving us, all the better.

Howy-an, opener Down And Down does the bleep techno thing of days past, but with spiffy modern production reminding you this stuff still sounds as futuristic as it did nearly three decades ago (holy cow!). Second cut Decliner Box is a deeper, moodier affair, less on the bleep and more on the bloop. It's also only three and a half minutes long, which is seems rather short for any techno of this sort. Was there no other avenues those sinister backing pads could be taken? The Life Giver stretches things out to a whopping five minutes, though too is a moody affair, its defining characteristic away from the usual bleepiness is a muted skippity rhythm. I can't say there's much going on with these tracks, only standing out because they're different from the usually chipper B12 stylee.

The closing seven-minute downtempo piece The Battle Continues does have the vibe of vintage ambient techno, in that the minimalist chill tone would fit right in on Artificial Intelligence. Still, the impression I get is Rutter could use another voice in the studio to flesh out his ideas. Considering how subsequent EPs turned out, I suspect he realized it too.

Ajna - An Era Of Torment

Reverse Alignment: 2017

When I first picked this up, I didn't think I was getting an Ajna album, even though his name is right there on the cover. Truth is, as I browsed through Reverse Alignment's catalogue during another label splurge, I had my eye out for SiJ, whose collaborative album Queer Reminiscence with Item Caligo had also appeared on the dark ambient print. I knew there were other albums from him on Reverse Alignment (specifically The Lost World ...more on that at a later date), which is the only reason I can give for how I'd mistake Ajna for SiJ. Okay, there's a 'J' in both their aliases too, but geez, they don't even share the same amount of syllables. I suppose I also recognized the name 'Ajna' from somewhere before, and with SiJ most prominently on my mind at the time, my brain did one of those lazy word association thingies it likes to do.

Turns out I did review an Ajna release – or rather, a collaborative album with Dronny Darko, Black Monolith. I... honestly feel kinda' bad that I forgot about Ajna's participation in that project, especially as I did a decent write-up of his background there. I've not much more to add here either, in that his output's slowed down some since that release. This particular album was the follow-up to Black Monolith, and he put out another LP with Cyclic Law the next year (Lucid Intrusion), which entices me to claim all he needs to complete a dark ambient super-label hat-trick is something out on Cryo Chamber. That would be silly to claim though, as I have no idea whether Reverse Alignment, Cyclic Law, and Cryo Chamber actually do make up some unholy trinity of top-tier dark ambient output. They're just the three most prominent ones I know.

If you've somehow forgotten the Ajna stylee as described in the Black Monolith review, the quick refresher blurb is he's mostly about those wide-screen soundscapes and drones, making you feel detached and isolated from your immediate meatspace. You could be sitting in the middle of a bustling park in the middle of a summer afternoon, but with Ajna's compositions playing on headphones, you'll swear you're as alone as the last human on Earth.

Thus introspection is the name of the game in An Era Of Torment, where crippling anxiety and senseless self-doubt can create lifetime prisons within our own psyches. Ajna spends six tracks exploring this theme, mostly through melancholy pads permeating layers of whispy timbre. It can sound desolate at times, but never so empty as a lot of this sort of drone goes. Field recordings like shuffling feet and spoken dialog help retain some sense of comfort, and the album does end on the subtlest of uplifting tones. Ajna sure makes you earn any positive feels though, which seems appropriate given the subject matter. Best save An Era Of Torment for those evenings when you don't mind walking endless distances in the dark of a cool night.

Darren Nye - Emotional Intelligence

FireScope: 2017

This label hasn't released a huge amount of items since B12 launched it a few years back, which is fine because FireScope clearly aims at having each record be something special. Trouble is, and I know this sounds utterly entitled, I feel they could be just a little more. Artwork, lovely! Presentation, wonderful! Music, top grade! Amount of music ...eh, always an EP, never an LP. And I get it, FireScope mostly a digital-and-vinyl outlet – it's great they offer a CD option at all. Whenever I order something from them though, and have to pay that extra-extra shipping cost from the U.K., I just wish I was getting more music for my money, y'know? Again, total nonsense whine here, especially when you compare to what vinyl enthusiasts pay for shipping on the regular. Still, I can't be the only one hoping Brexit happens soon, so the British pound collapses and it won't be so expensive ordering things from- eh? You say the Canadian dollar would likely fall too if that happens? Well, forget it then, Brexit's a silly idea.

Anyhoo, Darren Nye (not the science guy – sorry, sorry, I promise that's the only time I'll do that). He first emerged a decade ago on Organica Music Labworks with a trio of digital EPs, but didn't seem to make much hay from it. However, one John Shima also had an EP out on that label, so when Mr. Shima got an item out on FireScope, I assume he put in a good word for Mr. Nye (being an admitted B12 fan also likely helped grease those wheels), and soon enough Emotional Intelligence emerged on on the label. The experience must have re-invigorated Darren's music-making passion, as he's been on an absolute tear of productivity in the year since, establishing his own SpaceTime digital-label to release material, including aliases such as PlanktonWarrior and The Elusive Man (I understand that reference!).

As for this particular EP, truth is I've not much more to add that I haven't already said on previous FireScope reviews. Though there are differences in how each producer approaches the craft, there's definitely something of a 'house style' running through them all, which is fine. If a label run by the guys behind B12 are comfortable releasing music that sounds like B12 and music by artists who've been inspired by B12 sounding like B12, then that's their prerogative. Works for those of us that dig that B12 stylee, it does.

Opener Things She Said works that spacey, chipper ambient techno vibe, Emulated Emotion goes deeper into the synth pad washes and reverb effects (burble acid!), while Plasmid Soul's rhythm touches closer to the realms of electro than Detroit techno (it's a very thin border, almost a Venn Diagram). Fragments has a thicker, broken beat going for it, a bit rather experimental compared to the other tracks, but Disconnected Reality is a straight-up chill fest, half-tempo dubby rhythms and spaced-out pad work. So retro, so lush.

Cosmo Cocktail - Aurora

Werkstatt Recordings: 2017

Huh. Looks like I wasn't out of the Werkstatt woods after all. It's not like I forgot this album was in the queue either, its cover art quite striking in that classic space-synth mould. In fact, that's probably why I forgot it was a Werkstatt release, almost too good for the label. That's not a dig on the Greece synth peddlers, just that they tend to have a certain aesthetic, the sort of pulpy style you'd expect out of dingy cyperpunk enclaves, not airbrushed cosmic vistas. And while the art isn't anything spectacular either, I get more a Dynatron vibe out of it than Retrosynther. To be honest, I was at a loss of where I got Aurora in the first place, and was savouring the reveal of when I finally got to it proper-like. I'd forgotten it was Werkstatt, knew it wasn't Blood Music, but couldn't think of any other synthwave labels I'd raided these past couple years. Aphasia Records?

A few other factors had me thinking Aurora as an album released elsewhere. For one, Cosmo Cocktail isn't an utter blank within the Discoggian archives: there's even a full name provided! Luca Brumat mostly self-released a smattering of digital EPs, though found an additional outlet with 30th Floor Records, another in the endless amount of synthwave net-labels that emerged this past decade. With no physical releases though, naturally I didn't pay that print any mind, and I'm assuming the lure of tapes and CDs brought Mr. Brumat into the Werkstatt fold. His first one was Atmosphere Zero, with cover art featuring what appears to be a cyborg seaman operating the periscope of a U-boat – ah, that's the Werkstatt aesthetic I'm talkin' about.

Far as I can tell, Aurora is Cosmo Cocktail's magnum-opus, even getting a vinyl re-issue through TimeSlave Recordings (synthwave label # 138, 428, but has Futurecop!). It's certainly some high-grade synthwave music in the space-synth mould (SSSSYYYNNNNNTHHH!). The titular proper-opener captures all the cosmic vibes of casually cruising the solar system in tiny model spaceships against matte paintings and neon vector grids. Unfamiliar Skies adds some new wave vibes with a crooning Ideon. The Skylab Odyssey lays the epic synth chords on heavier. Last Call adds a little acid burbling to a strident new beat space groove. Across Orion Nebula ups the pace some while bringing more of a mysterious tone to the party. We'll Never Come Back serves as a lengthy credits coda to the album. Gagarin! Don't Look Back! ...um, severing ties to an evil galactic mega-corp criminal ring? Got nothing there.

What really pushes Aurora over the edge as one of Werkstatt's best releases is the production, everything coming in clear and crisp, with sonic resonance befitting a professional retro-studio rather than a DIY outfit. Heck, it's even better than some of Blood Music's output, which can sound muddy at times. With all these factors in play, can you blame me for initially thinking Aurora wasn't Werkstatt? I think not!

Flowers For Bodysnatchers - Asylum Beyond

Cryo Chambers: 2017

I had a couple angle ideas going into this album from Flowers For Bodysnatchers. A brief recap on the project from where we'd left off. Something about the history of messed-up asylum stories. A quip about how it's been so long since I last wrote anything about Cryo Chamber. As I sat down to commit fingers to keyboard though, I got an email notice informing me that Duncan Ritchie is set to release a brand new Flowers For Bodysnatchers album in a week or two. Well that's cool, thinks I, Alive With Scars perhaps providing me with some additional tidbits of info I can use for this review.

I scope out the Bandcamp link, intrigued by the picture of an upright human nervous system seemingly wandering an abandoned Victorian garden. Definitely something I've never seen before, making me wonder what the concept behind the album is. Multiple Sclerosis is the concept, the PR blurb informs, a wasting away of one's body by its own immune system. A condition Duncan has lived with for the past decade. Oh. Oh my!

Suddenly making an album about 'the Suicide Forest' takes on a whole other light. Not that this has much to do with Asylum Beyond, but it's difficult shaking all that from my head. Must move on for now though, lest I use up any talking points for whenever I do get around to discussing Alive With Scars proper-like.

Asylum Beyond has plenty 'nuff material to dig into, a 'ripped from the headlines' tale of antique shop keepers, occult rituals, lunatic hospitals, and mass murders. Fairly traditional horror fiction topics, all told, but something of a departure for Mr. Ritchie, who's albums tend to deal with mood music and psychological depression. With its ample field recordings and sparse ambience, Asylum Beyond comes off one part film soundtrack, and one part radio drama, though lacking much dialog beyond your requisite Latin chanting; can't deal with the occult without that Latin chant.

And thus I've come to yet another dark ambient album conundrum, wherein talking about it seems a futile effort. Sure, I could detail all the creepy things that go on, like heavy, echoing footsteps in abandoned warehouses in Midnight My Dearest Midnight, or discordant string swells in Ravenfield (the asylum's name), or the cheeky sample of an old-timey symphony recording at the end Phantasma, but my detailing lacks context without hearing it as part of the album's narrative whole. Asylum Beyond is bookended by creepy piano pieces, but without taking the journey of deepening madness from beginning to end, they lack the poignancy Duncan's tale offers.

Dark ambient isn't generally the most musically inclined of genres out there, usually settling for mood and atmospherics. Strangely, it's even rarer to hear an album that's this detailed in its storytelling. Simon Heath definitely indulges it with his Atrium Carceri and Sabled Sun projects, and I'm sure there's others, but it's a treat to hear another take the challenge on just the same.

Scott Grooves - Key Statements - The Beginning: The Soiree Collection 1992-1995

Soiree Records International: 2017

Yes, the beginning. The start of it all. The alpha happening. The prime, um, kickoff. Whatever you want to call it, these are the tracks Scott Grooves initially got his groove on with, a smattering of singles and remixes for Detroit based Soiree Records International. He'd shortly after get a deal with Soma Quality Recordings, which led to the single A New Day, the album Pieces Of A Dream, and we already know all this because I just talked about it in the Pure Mixin' It retrospective. So let's give a quick rundown on Soiree instead.

Not a major print by any stretch, but they've been in operation since 1990, releasing a few records every year to this day. I honestly don't recognize anyone on this label, but there must be enough love for acts like Glenn Vernon, Pleasure Device, Drivetrain, and CloudMasterWeed to have kept the lights on for nearly three decades now. Nothing can stop the Motor City deep house machine!

Yeah, we're in house's house, and really, if you clicked on a review for a guy called Scott Grooves and weren't expecting house of some sort, let me be the first to welcome you to our planet - please take your litter with you when you leave. This American house though, it's in that weird transitional era from the classic Chicago sound of the decade before, and the full-on loopin', disco n' funk revival that would define the latter half of the '90s. At this point, the deeper, bumpin' New York and Miami style was dominating the clubs, producers like Masters At Work and labels like Strictly Rhythm large and in charge. Scott Grooves may have hailed from Detroit, but that don't mean he wasn't heavily influenced by that sound either, much of the music here fitting comfortably snug within clubs out on the east coast. It'd be a few more years before Detroit musicians stopped fighting their natural inclination to put the 'tech' into their house.

Despite some ultra-tight drum programming that's just part of any Detroit producer's DNA, Scott Grooves doesn't do much here distinguishing him from the deep, eastcoast bump 'n grind vibe. Which is fair, the chap undoubtedly still learning the ropes of production while DJing remained his main focus.

His two Key Statements cuts work a sparse groove just fine, with that punctual squarewave bassline bobbin' about as a soul sista' or piano/organ/saxaphone/xylophone improvises between the vocals. His remixes for Pam Vernon, Sweet B, Lawanda, and Kiata generally follow the same formula, though the production's got a deeper, richer atmosphere to them – less stiff than the Key Statements cuts. The collection ends on a couple unreleased items - On My Way and Anything 4 You - and it's here Scott's Detroit lineage peaks through, tunes sounding far more futurist and 'techy' than anything New York was churning out, but still on that deep house vibe nonetheless. Dang, why'd it take this long to revive these, yo'?

Scott Grooves - Pure Mixin' It: A Decade Of Natural Midi 2007-2017

Natural Midi: 2017

It's Bandcamp's fault my music collection's ballooned to its current size. Take Scott Grooves, a dude most know from his hit Mothership Reconnection of two decades past, and perhaps only the Daft Punk rub at that. It certainly was about the extent of my knowledge of the man, but in scoping out his Discogs page while Adding Pieces Of A Dream To [my] Collection, I couldn't help but check out that Bandcamp link as well. To satisfy my curiosity, see, of the sort of swag Mr. Grooves may have available. And while most of it featured your usual digital releases, vinyl releases, and assorted t-shirts and slipmats, a CD compilation of older material couldn't pass me by. That's not what I'm digging into here though, but rather a bonus CDr Mr. Grooves threw in with my purchase. Only, this too has a proper release, just not the version I got, which looks more like a demo. I've made this sound more confusing than it is. Point is, because of Bandcamp, where I intended to buy one CD, I somehow ended up with two. No wonder I'm already in need of more wall-mounted shelves.

Soma Quality Recordings may have been instrumental in giving Scott Grooves his biggest breakout, but the man from Detroit has generally been a strict student of Detroit Independence, setting up his own labels to release his own music, screw whatever promotional push a bigger print affords. Thus after the Soma experiment ended, he retreated back to his own devices, initially starting up the From The Studio Of Scott Grooves print. That one is still technically in operation, but hasn't offered much material since its inception beyond reissues and 7” vinyl. Seems the other label he set up after, Natural Midi, has received more of his attention, singles released at a steady clip since 2007. As the title of this CD states, it's had ten years of operation, and what better time than last year to whip up a little celebratory mix of your tunes. None better time, says I.

Naturally, I hadn't a clue what sort of music Scott Grooves had been releasing on Natural Midi. Like, I assumed it would be house, because that's been his breaded butter since the early '90s, but I wasn't expecting house music so stripped down and retro, especially after the slickly produced and polished Pieces Of A Dream. Right, that album came out a decade before the first Natural Midi single (A'round Midnight, for the record, though nothing from that record appears on here), plenty of time for Scott to feel that classic Detroit itch to return to the basics of house and techno. Plus, y'know, 'minimal' was trendy in 2007, so a stripped-down sound wouldn't be out of place anyway.

And despite the retro production, Groove's namesake still carries through all of these tracks, that unmistakable, ever-present, deep Motor City funk no matter how simple these tunes get. An acquired taste, for sure, but one that remains timeless.

Perturbator - New Model

Blood Music: 2017

Yes, there's trap on this album. Like, only the slightest bit of it, mostly in the hi-hats, but really, it's all anyone associates with the genre now, those triple-time rat-a-tat-tat-tat rhythms. It's a sound so ubiquitous in modern music, it might as well be this era's Funky Drummer break, or James Brown sample, or Phil Collins hall effect, or Dick Dale guitar reverb. There may be a genre of music that was dominated by it (breakbeat; hip-hop; 80s pop; surf rock) but became so popularized that everyone got in on that action. Heck, it wasn't that long ago we were trudging through Top 40 dubstep drops, though it seems trap hi-hats have more lasting power than that. Their range of use has proved more dynamic than most other trend-whoring gimmicks of music past.

Still, when Perturbator stated this mini-album would feature a change of direction, I'm not sure folks would have expected trap hi-hats. I don't know why though, as beyond the aforementioned musical homogeneity of them, they're also a necessary staple for most festival headliners these days. James Kent's profile currently isn't anywhere near the top of the pyramid, but his style of music wouldn't be too out of place among the Black Tiger Sex Clubs out there, where aggro-synth drops and death electro can appear in tandem with all the other EDM racket performed. And if any synthwaver has a hope of getting his name in such rotation, there's few out there with more clout that Perturbator. I, for one, would most welcome such music at the peak hours of Shambhala – be a nice change of pace from all the glitch-hop, that's for sure.

That's basically the gist I get from New Model, a collection of tracks mostly intended for a concert roll-out, with all the huge, explosive synths and sounds that come with stage shows. I don't know if he has actually gone forward with that – it's not like any European synthwavers ever tour on my side of the globe – but I can definitely see them played best in that context. Big, loud, aggressive, head-banger fodder, with almost no care or concern for the album narrative most previous Perturbator LPs provide. The first two tracks - Birth Of A New Model and Tactical Precision Disarray - are especially some of the nastiest, sludgiest darksynth jams I've heard from anyone, save maybe some of GosT's demon-possession sounds.

The final three tracks are more straight-forward, skewing closer to the vintage Perturbator stylee, though throw in their own glitch-hop twists too (also, does Tainted Empire ever want to be an apocalyptic death-metal outing). And no Perturbator album, mini or otherwise, is complete without at least one vocal track, Vantablack doing something of a darkwave ballad, a surprising piece of downbeat songcraft compared to New Model's overall feral sound design. And damn, that sound design, these tracks some of the most spacious I've yet heard from Mr. Kent. I knew he'd get beyond that brick-walled mastering eventually!

B°TONG - Monastic

Reverse Alignment: 2017

How, exactly, is this pronounced? Bow Tong? Bu Tang? Be Degrees of 'Tong'? Also, is this supposed to be upper-case or lower-case, because I've seen both, even within his own Bandcamp page. The casing is important, because I don't know whether the name should be whispered or shouted from the rooftops. Is it some ancient, fancy German or Scandinavian dialect my Canadian hinterland upbringing has made me ignorant of? As we are dealing with a dark ambient project, perhaps it's some super-secret scripture code, the likes of which only those who've read the deepest passages of Lovecraft Lore could ever have a hope of comprehending, but to comprehend is to succumb to the utter madness that comes with comprehension of all that is and shall not be unto itself. Or maybe it's just a collection of characters that look cool together, and aren't meant to be spoken aloud. Hey, works for me – one of the reasons I stick to the written word, and not video on the Vimeo.

For those writing the B°TONG cheques, you can use the name Chris Sigdell. He's been an active musician for some three decades now, flitting between various aliases and noisy industrial bands in that time. Probably his most famous group was NID, though more recently he's gone the way of doom metal in Leaden Fumes. b°tong (sorry, but until I've a concrete answer of which version is correct, I'm gonna' be flippin' them) sprung up around the time NID ended, and has resulted in over twenty albums in a mere decade of activity. Sounds about right for a post-industrial noise-experimental dark ambient project, especially one that I've never heard of until stumbling upon it in Reverse Alignment's catalogue. Can't say I'm familiar with any of B°TONG's previous labels though (Verato Project, Snowy Tension Pole, gears of sand, Attenuation Circuit, Like A/An Everflowing Stream, Hots), but some of his older albums do look intriguing. I wonder what's the deal with that Ov Elf And Haarp?

Mr. Sigdell made his debut on Reverse Alignment with two albums, this one and The Long Journey. I'm... not sure why I passed on the latter, as it's about the black hole at the centre of our galaxy – sounds right up my cosmic drone alley! Instead, I picked up Monastic, an album inspired by the New Swabia conspiracy theories. You know, that ol' chestnut about a secret Nazi base buried under the Antarctic ice, existing to this day. Maybe Hitler's kept there too, under cryostasis. I don't know about that, though it would be funny if he rose one day with cryo-frozen Stalin and cryo-frozen Disney to take over the world.

This is an album that features a lot of cavernous, claustrophobic field recordings, desolate drones, chilly soundscapes, and distant voices echoing off deep, frozen tunnels. You sense there's some sort of civilization lurking in all these ice caverns, but damned if you can find them. And maybe damned if you do find them.

Dead Melodies - Legends Of The Wood

Cryo Chamber: 2017

Simon Heath may have rejected the Far-Flung Sons Of Camden Town's Dead Cities concept, but perhaps that completely fabricated recounting of mine implanted the seed for a need of artists with 'Dead' in their handle. Yes, surprisingly, Cryo Chamber has lacked any such aliases. For a dark ambient label, that just won't do! How can you have a print wheelin' an' dealin' in the macabre-fantastica without at least one musician explicitly dedicated to the dead. It doesn't have to be dead organism or the like - even conceptual death will do, like the death of civilizations, or the death of rational thought. It's touched upon here and there in albums, but Tom Moore finally brings a straight-up, no bullshit handle where music goes to die. So, he's a brostep producer?

But seriously, if you're looking to make 'anti-music' of a sort, where melodies are intentionally deconstructed into a moribund state, drone in its purest sense is one of the genres that does the trick nicely. Experimental IDM wank too, and whatever noise arsonists are up to as well, but I highly doubt we'll ever see such stuff on Cryo Chamber. Well, maybe a few noise moments, if the concept calls for it. Nothing like scaring the bejeezees out of someone like a screaming banshee after a long period of disquieting pads.

Tom Moore had released a couple albums under the Dead Melodies moniker prior to this debut with Cryo Chamber, and is part of a post-rock drone duo called Understated Theory, mostly releasing material on the Norwegian print Sparkwood Records. No guesses as to what music they peddle, though some of the artist names there do bring a smile to my face (Nuclear Whale; The Elephant Frame; [MIIIIM]; Above, Convenience Store!). Dronny Darko has also released a collaborative album on Sparkwood, so perhaps that's where the Cryo connection comes into play. Or maybe not, but having all these disparate dark ambient labels interwoven like Lolth's web is something I quite enjoy believing.

Legends Of The Wood is as clear a concept title for an album as you'll ever find, Mr. Moore intent on taking you on a tour through some ancient, old-growth foliage. From A Trial Of Crows And Blood, upward upon On Devil's Hill, past The Hooded Nine (always cloaked figures, always), bear witness to A Malevolent Rising and a Wretched Masquerade, though finally all ebbing into a Beautiful Coalesce. Great titles, all of 'em!

The music itself, such as it is, mostly relies on sustained guitar tones, drawn out into moody dirges as various field recordings provide context in this journey, especially sounds of water sloshing about. Huh, are we in a forest, or a swamp? Some of these tracks are even rather calm and soothing, such as the opener with a fire crackling and spacious ambient timbre making me recall way-early Vangelis. Overall, Legends Of The Wood is a very droney album, but more than makes up for it in pure atmosphere.

Eat Static - Last Ship To Paradise

Interchill Records: 2017

Whenever a new Eat Static album drops now, I can't help but wonder, “Is this the one? Is this where Merv finally succumbs to all the trendy shit, losing that distinct feel that makes Eat Static the unique entity I enjoy?” In many albums I've heard out of the project, they've drifted remarkably close many times. The nods to drum 'n' bass in Science Of The Gods during that genre's first commercial heyday. The adoption of plastic Israeli full-on psy production in De-Classified. Even a build or two that had me expecting grotesque brostep monstrosities before pulling back from the brink and delivering the tear-out psy I mash my head to (are we so different, bros and I?). It's been a strange, skillful tightrope trick Merv has pulled these past two decades, but there has to be a point where he just says, “Ah, nuts to this, I'm leaping off with my parachute in place, haha!” This metaphor made more sense in my head before committing it to typeface.

I should know better than to lack such faith the Eat Static brand would ever do me so wrong, Yet once again, with their latest album in Last Ship To Paradise, and in the opening track of Eerie Nothingness, upon hearing a glitch-hop beat, that same ol' worry snuck up on me again. I couldn't help but think I was gonna' be in for an album's worth of tired, gibbering, random, nonsensical 'glitch' effects with hammy builds and drops as too many festival 'bangers' are wont to do. Then I remembered, “wait, that random, glitchiness has been an Eat Static staple for ages - they were among the first to ever do it within the psy scene, much less all of electronic music? Why would I complain about something I've always liked about them in the first place?” And besides, beyond a brief bit late, Eerie Nothingness is played comparatively straight for a psy-dub outing in the Eat Static canon, even getting Juno Reactor opulent for the track's climax. Hot damn.

As this album comes care of Interchill Records once again, Last Ship To Paradise is a more chill outing from Eat Static – the most ' uptempo psy' things get here is the proggy number Shadow Locked. We also get another indulgence of jungle's attributes in Fallen Angel, after half the track does the standard psy-dub thing. I'll take a little more of Merv's sci-fi d'n'b anyday tho'! Even the more questionably odd, trendy moments like mid-range glitchy bass noises in the titular cut and The Swamp right themselves by track's end, as if I needed further reminders that no matter how off-the-path Eat Static can go, they always find themselves right back where I like 'em. The remaining tracks don't offer much else in surprises, making Last Ship To Paradise a strangely middle-of-the-road downbeat album from Eat Static, but so long as they never lose those cheeky spaced-out sounds and samples, they'll forever have that lane all to themselves.

Silent Universe - The Infinity Coordinates

Cryo Chamber: 2017

Apparently the frigid wastes of our planet's polar regions weren't cold enough for Ugasanie. Nay, nothing but the absolute-zero temperatures of deep space will do now, or at least for the purposes of a side-project. Surely he needn't go that far so soon? Ol' mother Earth may be warming up to such a degree that we will no longer have cold poles, but there's still plenty of frozen clime's within our own solar system. Europa and Enceladus might make for some nifty cold conceptual drone music, what with the possibility of other organisms with hearing capabilities residing on suspected sub-surface oceans. Or go straight for the outer regions of our neighbourhood, music for 'chillin' on Pluto or Eris (ho-ho-ho). Heck, how about the regions between galaxies - now that's some impossible nothingness to reside in. Unless you're 'dark matter', I guess.

Mr. Malyshkin first launched this Silent Universe side-project back in 2015, debuting with a couple digital albums with the short-lived Belarus print Ignis Fatum - I assume 'short-lived', as they haven't released anything new in a couple years now. Always eager to fill out the Cryo Chamber coffers with fresh material, Simon Heath gave Pavel a new home for the project, The Infinity Coordinates the result. And hoo, boy was I hyped to hear this one! Dark cosmic ambient is already one of my vices, Mr. Heath's own Sabled Sun the initial lure into his label, while Pavel's various works as Ugasanie has done wonders in transplanting my mindspace into realms my puny human body has no business being. To hear these two concepts merged, having myself set adrift on desolate ...well, not bliss, but for those who don't have access to a deprivation chamber, lost in the infinite black with nothing but cosmic radiation your companion will suffice.

So I obviously personally hyped this album up based on the cover art alone, though really, what should I have been expecting of this? Space drone is among some of the droniest drone that will ever drone, and while some super narrative or journey would have tickled my fancy, I wasn't about to delude myself into thinking I'd get that in The Infinite Coordinates. At five tracks long – the shortest seven and a half minutes, the longest sixteen – there isn't much, erm, space, to tell much of a story anyway.

And whoa, what's this in the opener Spiral Space? Melodic tones? Mood befitting the cosmiche grande? Yeah, there's still that distinct, impossibly distant desolation Pavel's quite adept at, but he also captures a sense of wonderment too, that you can't help but be swept in the grandeur of endless emptiness. And while the album does descend into absolute isolation drone by the end (who knew faint radio tweets of Pulsar could be so comforting?), one can't help but feel some melancholy about it all too. Dang it, I wasn't expecting getting the feels in this excursion to the outer reaches of all and nothing.

Beatbox Machinery - Glam Nights

Werkstatt Recordings: 2017

I've talked a lot about Werkstatt Recordings since stumbling upon them nearly two years ago (holy cow!). I've talked a bunch about ultra-obscure acts that hardly anyone could have a care for, but Werkstatt cared enough to give them a little promotional shove into the big, scary world of the music industry. I've even talked to some length about specific artists and their contributions to the Werkstatt legacy, diving into their myriad releases and projects with the label and abroad. And yet, I've barely mentioned much of Werkstatt founder, Toxic Razor (I still don't know what his real name is ...I think he prefers it that way). Obviously dropped his name in passing, as you're wont to do when discussing projects he's been a part of with Kriistal Ann, but actually taking in an album of his own music? Crazy to think it's taken twelve releases from the label for me to get there. Lucky number thirteen for Mr. Razor, eh? Also, has it really only been a dozen reviews for this label thus far? Huh, sure feels like more at this point.

Far as I can tell though, Beatbox Machinery is his solo project. He has occasional drop-ins from Ms. Ann and others for a little vocal and synth support, but the musical direction primarily comes from his brain matter. And as befitting a muse with an ear for the retro, all the music is performed with vintage analogue gear, so that unpolished vibe you hear is intentional, yo'. The early Beatbox Machinery singles and albums leaned heavier into industrial and techno's realm, releasing digital singles at a ridiculous clip – how'd this guy ever find the time to run a label too?

It wasn't long before synthwave started gaining popularity, and Mr. Razor shifted gears to reflect that sound, seemingly capping another endless run of singles with a fifty-one track, triple-LP effort in A Synth Trilogy. Man, after all that, no wonder he and Kriistal decided to strip things down to a simpler sound as Paradox Obscur. He must have been feeling that synth-pop itch again though, as he's brought the Beatbox Machinery alias back for his first new album in two years. Hey, given the rate of output, twenty-four months is a heck of a gap for any Toxic Razor project!

I also get the sense that tireless work-rate leaves his discography lacking in some quality control. Eight tracks make up Glam Nights, all doing the synthwave, synth-pop, outrun, post-electroclash (!?) thing. The guest vocalists are fun - Occams Laser's turn on Fast Cars, Palm Trees & Hot Ladies reminds me Sexor-era Tiga , and it's almost bizarre hearing Kriistal Ann singing such a peppy tune in Love Is Gone. This production though... I get Toxic Razor likes keeping things real and authentic, as though he's in a synthwave garage band. Everything's so mushed though, I have difficulty getting into much here. Give me that stripped-down Paradox Obscur stuff instead, mate.

Alphaxone & Dronny Darko - Forsaken

Cryo Chamber: 2017

I thought this would be it. After many, many, many months, almost seven deep into our current calendar year, I'd finally (finally!) get out my first review of a 2018 release. I mean, there's precedent for it, my last couple years of critic-blogging establishing a pattern of sorts. Lollygagging on the current stuff, but not that Cryo Chamber hit, oh no. They're almost always first out the gate, since they're a label I keep most up-to-date on, with albums released at such a steady clip you're never left wanting for material. Odds have always been in their favour that they get the FIRST glory, and wouldn't you know it, this particular release features two artists that have even been part of those pole positions, Dronny Darko and Alphaxone. Can you blame me for having it stuck in my head that this collaboration album between them was a 2018 release then, and would be my first review of a release in this year? But nay, that is not the case at all, Forsaken rather coming out mid-2017, and it's only now that I've actually gotten around to it. Damn it, though, I could have sworn it was a Dronny Darko album that would do the deed, and something regarding 'cryo' at that. I'm forgetting something...

Anyhow, I got this album because how could I resist a pairing of these two? Alphaxone has built a career on crafting droning soundscapes leading you into alternate dimensions (or space), while Dronny Darko crafts droning soundscapes for when you're already in these alternate dimensions (or space). It's a match made in heaven-Hell (or whatever that labyrinth cenobite realm is), and I couldn't wait to hear what weird, strange, twisted, perverted, conceptual head-space these two would take me. Fiery towers in washed-out graylands? Deep explorations of quantum realms where only Event Horizon madness dwells? Ooh, such tantalizing, very fantasizing!

But nay, we instead get something... conventional? Like, Forsaken does have a definite narrative, but it isn't anything specific, at least to the degree 'Xone & Dron' have done before. The track titles are mostly broad, generalized moments of an inward journey - Immersion, Enter The Gates, Dissolution Of Thought, Approaching, etc. - but there's no indication of where are why this journey is taking place. The assorted imagery in the CD package also shows pictures of foggy city-lines and sail masts, which gets my 'dark ambient boats' triggers all a'twitter, but still doesn't clue me in any further exactly what's forsaken here. And speaking of the CD, why do the tracks have fades between them? It's clear this album is a continuous mix, but the fades makes it sound like we're taking a commercial break between tracks. I can only assume this was an oversight.

All that nitpicking aside though, the music (such as it is) perfectly captures Alphaxone and Darko's droning strengths, involving you in a weird journey of discordant tones and strange sounds. I just wish I knew exactly where I was going.

John Shima - Elements Unknown

FireScope: 2017

But really, how cool is FireScope Records? Like, obviously B12's little label won't win many ultra-hip awards anytime soon, but the print is so deliciously retro, it can't remain a hidden treasure much longer. From the ageless spacey techno they promote, to the pulp sci-fi artwork their releases adorn, it has everything folks fond of phuture muzik can hope for. My only gripe is shipping from them is brutal expensive, but that's what I get for living in the coastal paradise that is the Pacific Northwest (we have our down days too). Or still handing out for physical copies. Could be worse though. I could be ordering the vinyl options, and Lord Nelly is the shipping costs for that beyond brutal – like, BDSM for the music connoisseur. Puts 'buying the vinyl' into perspective though.

When the boys behind B12 started expanding their label to include more artists, John Shima was the first to get the nod. Something of a journeyman producer, Mr. Shima first made his debut with the Fader EP on digital-only label Red Robot Records in 2010, offering up three tracks of deliberately throwback Detroit techno. Fine and dandy, though I don't think many folks noticed it at the time, as techno itself was still in the throes of navel-gazing minimalism, and why should anyone give much care that a UK guy was making Detroit techno. Only Detroit dudes and German guys could make Detroit techno in 2010, if any were making it at all.

John though, he kept plugging along, releasing single after single on label after label, even appearing on that Touched Bass cancer benefit a whole slew of techno producers contributed to. I suspected in the Bauri review that this project was how he came into contact with B12, and now we have another suspect in this FireScope drafting! Once is happenstance, twice a coincidence, but if I come across a third producer from that compilation also on FireScope...

If you've been following Mr. Shima's career since his start, then you'll be in fine, familiar hands with Elements Unknown. Of course, the odds of that being the case with my reader-base is astronomically low, so here's an obligatory rundown of the four tracks present. Elements: nice, chill spacey vibe, with soft electro beats and burbling acid bassline. Symbols: more pure Detroit on the rhythm end, including a little thudding 808, all the while spaced-out synths and blippy-bloopy melodies ride in support. Implant: straight-forward techno, this one, though spacey, loopy, and melodic; could easily fit in an old-school Laurent Garnier 'trance' set. Illuminate: back to the downbeat electro vibes, or ambient techno if you will, since it totally would have made the cut on one an Artificial Intelligence compilations.

Which is great, if you dig that era of techno! Or not, if you don't know it all. Yeah, Elements Unknown doesn't shake the FireScope stylee one iota, but then I doubt B12 brought John Shima on for any other reason than to stay their course.

L.S.G. - Double Vision

Bonzai Progressive: 2017

Crazy to think it took fifteen years for Oliver Lieb to release a full-length album, and a double-LP at that. Yes, including The Unreleased Album, now officially released on his Solieb Digital print, but first made way back in 2002. Also, there was Inside Voices under his own name with Psychonavigation Records, but since that label hideously collapsed, the album's status is currently in limbo. Double Vision though, there is no doubt. Two CDs full of proper new tunes, released on a print in no danger of disappearing, and under an old reliable alias fans have been hoping a return to for ages. Take all my money, Mr. Lieb!

Still, it requests the question, where does L.S.G. fit in modern clime's? The heart-pumping trance that the moniker built its rep' on hasn't been in vogue for an age, and ol' Oliver hasn't shown any signs of returning to that style. He's well moved on from the minimal techno of Solieb – it was only fashionable for a short while anyway – but his few recent, scattered singles seem uncertain where his lane now is. Melodic techno? Spacey tech-house? Whatever thing Norman Feller's managed to sustain a career on? And is there even a need to keep making club singles anyway? L.S.G. had been trending towards the chill-out camps ever since Into Deep, but would there even be interest in another ambient outing after the lukewarm response to Inside Voices? So many options, so many ideas – ah, just double-album the return, filling all the creative needs!

And as CD1 opens with the grand space ambience of Seven Worlds, melting into a slow-burner with groovy rhythms, sci-fi sounds, and epic synth builds of Escape The Galaxy, all I can think is, “Damn, have I missed L.S.G.!” Oliver's always had a unique touch with rhythm and melody, instantly recognizable and never dull (if a little predictable though, one must admit), and long time fans should feel right at home here, tracks like Vapor and Passion reflecting glories past – even the rhythms take what Lieb learned from his Solieb days, putting it to far greater use. And if you do need some evolution along with his vintage sounds, how about a little psychedelic big-beat bedlam in Tipsy Flower and Perfect Blue? That ought to trigger your Future Sound Of London receptors. Also, Suborbital reminds me of an old, obscure Steve Porter prog cut (Innerpulse), which I have to assume is just a coincidence.

Even though it's the obligatory 'chill' disc, CD1 contains some serious body movin' beats. That can only mean CD2 is gonna' tear things out, right? Eh, it's definitely more upbeat, though still hovering a dozen BPMs lower than Lieb's classic stuff. I also don't find this disc quite as interesting as the first, contemporary 'peak time' tech-trance with vintage Lieb flourishes. It has its moments, but after awhile, I start itching for a little Black Album business. Now that's some mainroom techno that'll scare the kids away!

Carbon Based Lifeforms - Derelicts

Blood Music: 2017

Nope, this is still too weird to me, my brain still unsure what to make of Carbon Based Lifeforms being part of the Blood Music family. Leaving Ultimae Records, that's fine. It was clear Misters Segerstad and Hedberg weren't gonna' mesh with Aes Dana's shift into dub techno, so finding alternative outlets was inevitable. Maybe they'd follow Asura to the Altar Records camps, perhaps get chummy with another growing ambient techno print (Carpe Sonum, Databloem), or remain completely independent with their own digital Leftfield Records. The allure of vinyl out on the market though, it's just too much to ignore, and if any Scandinavian label has proven itself as the go-to distributor of niche vinyl, it's Blood Music. What I wouldn't give, though, to be a fly on the wall (a gremlin in the inter-tubes?) to hear the sales pitch on this particular marriage. “Oh yes, what your death metal label really needs is an acid-chill space ambient act – it'll totally bring in those lucrative psy-trance kids!”

Still, this new deal at least gave us re-issues of their old material, plus a whole brand new LP, their first in half a decade! (not counting some score work for the movie Refuge) Where might CBL's muse have drifted since the pure space drone of Twentythree? So many tantalizing paths they may have taken since, perhaps adopting trendier sounds like Ultimae and Silent Season's dub techno indulgences. Or maybe they'd explore completely new territory, venturing into the realms of shoegaze chill! I mean, they are technically on a rock label now, so it would fit.

Nah, guy. If anything Derelicts sounds like exactly what it is, a new album on a new label giving a potential new audience a general overview of their established style. It's a safe album in the Carbon Based Lifeforms discography, sticking to what's always worked best for them – downbeat songcraft, subtle acid, spacey pads, moving melodies – with a couple fresh ideas that even the eldest of fans can enjoy. Right, there's no MOS 6581 on here, but at least a little Potosynthesis. Really though, Derelicts has me thinking an album where Interloper and Twentythree were fused together – the immediacy of the former, and the spaced-out ambience of the latter.

Tracks like Accede, Derelicts, Equilibrium, Dodecahedron do the downbeat acid-chill thing, while 780 Days and Loss Aversion go for the wide-screen crescendos. Elsewhere, Nattväsen works another twee, spritely fairy-tale chill tune, complete with the requisite innocent-yet-creepy British child dialog. Mixed among them are plenty of pure ambient pieces, all still vibing on that Twentythree space drone, and mostly presented in tasty four-to-six minutes portions. If you need more though, closer Everwave is fourteen minutes of proper ambient bliss, so don't say CBL doesn't hook you up with the proper shit, yo'.

Dan and Johannes may not have evolved much with Derelicts, but it's still a fine album, their style intact and unique from much else out there. Especially on Blood Music. Blood Music...!

Plank & Ishq - Zeal Monachorum

...txt: 2017

Not content to pair up with Ishq with one alias, Lee Norris dragged his Nacht Plank pseudonym in for a little collaborative work too. That may seem either redundant or overkill, but the Ishqamatics stuff, that had a very specific sound, a 'bound' sound, if you will. Misters Norris and Hillier though, they have other musical explorations in mind, stuff that isn't so tied to that project's ambient techno leanings. They have all this vintage analogue gear at their disposal, see, equipment they can jam away for hours on end in freeform music making as the OG krautrockers like Tangerine Dream and Cluster did. And Lee, he already had a project name for such craftsmanship, that being Nacht Plank. Ishq though, he's still just same ol' Ishq.

Thus a number of albums resulted in their sessions. First were three volumes titled Crows An Wra, featuring tracks averaging between ten and twenty minutes in length, one even breaking the half-hour mark. I haven't listened to any of them, because even that seems a bit much sonic noodling and musical doodling than I'm usually willing to take in from these two. But hey, if you're a huge fan of either Nacht Plank or Ishq, have at 'em.

Me, I'll take a sampling for now, in this follow-up album of Zeal Monachorum. It features four tracks, the opener lasting over twenty-four minutes long, the rest hovering around the sixteen minute mark. It honestly doesn't come across that way though, more like a disconnected assemblage of experimental sounds, bleepy passages, oscillating synths, and all manner of eggheaded ideas coming and going. If they'd broken everything up into individual tracks, however, you'd be looking at around a dozen pieces of conceptual art-music, some of which you might skip if given the option. Plank & Ishq ain't having any of your picky-nicky notions of music consumption though. You're gonna' take all their meandering audible activities, from the broken snippets of dialog, to the chirping electronics, to the soothing pad drone, to the languid bell tones, to the wobbly Moog – and that's all just in Church Of The Cross Modulation! Okay, not the dialog bits, those are in other tracks.

I suppose there are loose themes tying each track together. Zeal Monachorum Moonships mostly has sci-fi modulating sounds, every so often broken up by dubby, flowy synth-pad passages – it's like Plank and Ishq are taking turns with the assorted gear. Oxenham Space Locator maintains the Berlin-School modulating fun for much of its duration, save a bleep-ambient coda towards the end. Devonschire Oscillations treads closest to something like ambient techno, though the added guitar-synth tones keeping things on that '70s vibe.

Zeal Monachorum does have nifty portions throughout, but like the krautrock Plank & Ishq are drawing influence from, demands your undivided attention to get much out of it. Fortunately, you'll get plenty opportunities to do so, as the two have launched a new label exclusively exploring such music, called Zeit. That word sounds familiar, somehow.

A Cryo Chamber Collaboration - Yog-Sothoth

Cryo Chamber: 2017

Some time ago, I quipped that, in their relentless rate of output, Cryo Chamber would eventually release an album for every letter of the alphabet. As yet untapped, I even suggested 'Y' being a likely contender in their near future, perhaps for one of their massive collaborative projects - there had to be some Old World denizen with a name starting with the letter they could draw inspiration from. Indeed there is! Not that I knew it existed, mind you, my knowledge of Lovecraftian lore generally gleaned from pop culture references (you know you got it made when South Park is riffing on you). Still, when the label announced the release for Yog-Sothoth, you bet I double-taked.

This... had to be sheer coincidence. Like, the artists involved must have been working on the project well before I joked about such an occurrence going down, right? But, what if it's not? What if, somehow, someway, I influenced these men and women into taking this creative path? How can that even be possible? Do my words transcend space-time, existing outside our universe to shape the trackless river of our plane of reality? Might a future-Me have used my time machine to whisper intents upon unsuspecting composers? What else might I do with this awesome and terrible power? What must I do...?

*ahem*

I skipped out on the last Cryo Chamber Collaboration because, at 3 CDs long, Nyarlathotep came off overstuffed for what I'm willing to take in these concept projects. Yog-Sothoth pares things back to a tidy two discs, but includes a nifty booklet with artwork, quotes, and scriptures within a hard-cover case – makes you feel like you're opening an ancient tome. Sixeteen of the twenty artists involved I've covered in some capacity, so here's a list of those that are new to my eyes: Gydja, Kristoffer Oustad, Darkrad, and Neizvestija. They range from Norway to New Zealand, truly encompassing what it means to do collaborative work in a globally flat digi-space.

Yog-Sothoth itself is regarded as an even Older One than that attention whore Cthulhu, existing outside our universe as an omnipresent gatekeeper between realms (insert whatever 'gatekeeper' meme you wish). The music here generally reflects that, in that each artist doesn't so much lead you on a continuous journey, but offers glimpses between different moods, tones, locales, and vistas. Though I'm hardly versed enough in each musician's style to tell who's piece is currently performing and when, there are noticeable transitions throughout each hour-long composition. Dark and foreboding passages will lead into droning soundscapes with field recordings, sometimes followed upon by minimalist melancholic melodies, and so on. Some transitions of tone are so apparent, Yog-Sothoth honestly at times comes off more like a compilation or continuous mix of individual tracks rather than a singular piece of varying elements. Which solicits the question of, on a conceptual level, where does the former end and the latter begin? Depends how many people are involved in the ongoing creative process, I suppose.

Raekwon - The Wild

Empire: 2017

I feel neglectful when it comes to Raekwon. It was his Immobilarity that opened my eyes to all that hip-hop could be in terms of narratives, and both Cuban Linx albums are stone-cold classics in the Wu pantheon. Unfortunately, his other albums don't spark much interest in yours truly. It's not that I doubt his verbal skills on any of his projects, but I've been burned a few too many times on 'mediocre Wu' to scope out everything all these MCs release. Rae's no less immune to the syndrome, a lesson learned with The Lex Diamond Story. Unless he's bringing something dope to the table with production to back it up that gets the knowledgeable heads I trust talking, I give his stuff a pass.

Turns out Mr. Woods has released an album that's gotten knowledgeable heads talking, or at least positively buzzing to such a degree that I haven't seen since Cuban Linx, Pt. 2. While by no means is it being hyped to Cuban Linx levels (because really, the only thing that could generate such talk is a Part 3), I figured it was about time I got myself re-associated with The Chef in The Wild.

And this... this is pretty darn good! Mind, I'd never go into a Raekwon joint expecting something revolutionary, not at this late stage of his career. Just bring me more of those vintage storytelling raps with witty street slang and a slew of solid beats to back them up, and I'm more than sated. Rae' easily delivers on the lyrical front, providing his usual assortment of street tales, reflective raps, and braggadocios boasts about living and maintaining his good life after so many years in the game. I was particularly thrown for a loop on Marvin, a retelling of the life of Gaye with Cee-Lo Green belting out a chorus as only he can. Where did Rae' find the inspiration to rap about that tale of triumph and tragedy? And damn, does producer Frank G ever provide the perfect soul loop for this tune (not to mention his other contribution of Nothing - methinks he gets Rae's vibe quite well indeed).

The soul loops mostly dominate The Wild, which makes sense as Mr. Woods' own flow has taken on something of a mellow, husky soul itself as he's aged. He still finds time to fit in with current trends though, including a twitchy, synth-heavy cut with Lil' Wayne in My Corner (he don't rap much of anything new, but he does sound good rapping it), a gothic tune with synthy choirs and organs in M&N with P.U.R.E. (don't know him), and a slice of trap in You Hear Me to close The Wild out. It's... fine for trap, I guess? Doesn't really fit with the rest of Rae's vibe on this album though, especially as a closer. Don't worry, Shallah, you don't have to jump on every trend with your work. Like, no one remembers that 'crunk' jam off Lex Diamond.