Sandwiched between two
white, plastic tiles, this innovatively packaged album is an
interesting artefact of electronic music that spends a lot of its time
experimenting with rhythm. I suppose one might characterize the
clunky beats and sparse synths on this record as IDM, a description
that's apt if incomplete.
Bucharest-based
Yvat (born Octavian Justinian Uta) has released scads of
records over the past few years, and his experience shows on
Gliae. He populates his compositions with glitchy, complex beats,
carefully strewing melodies over top. On melodic tracks like "NAcc"
(presumably a tribute to the nucleus accumbens) and sublimely urgent
"Lemma," the combination is reminiscent of work by Bedouin Ascent
and Autechre. On more rhythm-centric compositions, such as
"Astern" and "ACTH," Uta shows off his skill at designing
unconventional, stuttering beats. At its most intense moments, these
tracks acquire a sort of mechanical quality, almost as if they were
the percussive rhythms of a factory full of machinery. But it's the
picture-perfect "Alar" which takes this record's crown; with a
brilliantly ethereal synth-line as its motif, it bridges the gap
between the synth-drenched prettiness of Orbital and the
rhythmic complexity of
Autechre - it's mesmerizing yet frustratingly short.
Altogether, Gliae
isn't the most immediate IDM release, as the emphasis is more on
atmosphere and unconventional rhythm than it is on melody, but
nevertheless it's a curious record that rewards the patient
listener.
