When I first bought this, it didn't sit well with me.
It's not ever going to be one of those albums that I
keep on constant rotation and just can't get enough
of. However, "Between Gaps" strikes me over all as
similar to B12's music on Warp, if not in style, in
its impression on me. More on this in a moment, after
I talk about the actual music itself!
"Between Gaps" brings few words to mind for me.
"Techno" comes to mind; it just has an aura of techno
sounds to it, though it is definitely not techno
music. "Funk" is another word. "Alien" is a third.
Maybe it's washes of alien funk trying to wear a
techno camouflage and not exactly succeeding.
It's kind of like, if you looked up in the sky one
night and saw the alien equivalent of an insane circus
train passing by the earth. What marvolous things
would you see, if only for a fleeting moment? The
clowns might come by first, though you wouldn't
recognize them as clowns. They'd be doing their alien
clownish things, and you just wouldn't have enough
time to get more than a fleeting glimpse of their
show. Then the alien equivalent of lions and
elephants pass by in their alien cages, hooting and
growling, but you don't realize that's what it was
until it's too late and it's already passed you buy.
"Cold" is another word that comes to mind. This
circus is from the frozen wastes of pluto, but it's
not hard, craggy ice, it's soothing drifts of snow.
You want to play in it, but snow is cold and you
eventually want to come back inside for oatmeal.
The best part about this CD are the Moments - Moments
of triumph, Moments of genius, Moments of the cold
funk being laid down hard. Then that portion of the
alien convoy has passed by and you've only been
teased. Unfortunately, this circus isn't coming to
your town, so you just won't have the opportunity to
study it any further.
It's magical, complex, fast and slow and fleeting. I
find myself wanting to pay a lot of attention to
detail. Not in the way you listen to the detail in
Autechre, trying to find the cohesive pattern; there
doesn't seem to be a complete, obvious whole in this
album. Rather, it's like the aimless wanderings of a
child, looking for the universe between the gaps in
frozen clouds of nitrogen gas.
It lacks that "pop" draw of my more favorite releases,
such as Proem's "Negativ" or even Autechre's
"Confield." These releases stay fresh in my mind when
I'm not listening to them, and keep me coming back for
more. Instead, B12 is, and MD is shaping up to be,
"recreational" music for me - it's good for a break
from the norm. On its own, it just lacks character
and personality, at least of the kind with which I can
identify.
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