connect_icut

You might – if you keep a careful eye on these missives – recall us being a tad taken by connect_icut’s last outing around Christmas time on Aagoo’s more ambient minded sub imprint the rev laboratories series, a beautifully amorphous thing comprised of six suites which if I remember rightly we described in a nutshell as ‘a modern day harmony of the spheres’. that ‘crows and kittiwakes wheel and come again’ never made our end of year selections was purely the curse of timing and nothing to do with the craftsmanship lilting within. And so to the arrival of ‘small town by the sea’ here given the full Aagoo label treatment. Little more than four months ago since its siblings appearance, is this a rushed affair we feared after all connect_icut has in the past had something of a want for punctuating recorded outings with silences of up three years. We prized CD from its card envelope and onto the player and waited, more so hoped we were wrong. If anything ’small town by the sea’ is in terms of adoration twice the former. As previously this set comes divided up into 6 delicate suites, more playful this time of asking (such as ‘tennis players’ as it tripwires kookily into the orbital space of Cornelius‘ sonic playground) and to boot more considered whilst similarly adopting the same technique of sonic shape shifting though here set to a more panoramic and immersive setting. As the press release rightly makes note, ‘small town by the sea’ is highly accessible, employing beats, field recordings and a heavy use of intricately layered rhythms these suites are succulently dipped in a myriad of tropicalia motifs, the effects fluid and interchangeable (such as the twinkling sleepy headed and luxuriant lunar lullaby ‘bathroom mirror (smash patriarchy)’), the textures more clearly defined allure the listener in both seduction and entrancement whilst simultaneously proving perfect for lights lowered after dark experiences. Reference wise, 808 state and a youthful future sound of London readily spring to mind or those lengthy workouts that used to appear on the flip sides of Orb 12’s, however that said its to Banco de Gaia where the author nods, the subtle dubbed out trims, the tribal and spectral cosmic beats and the hypno groove sensibilities throughout serve as irrefutable proof (non more so is this the case than on the opening ‘bird internet‘ wherein the ethnic mosaics are shimmer toned in subtle doses of hallucinogenia to give it a deep trance like trip-a-delic aura). All said best moment comes with the parting ’cat town’ which in short is a divinely demurred bliss kissed celestial carousel whirring through the distant outer posts of the cosmos piloted by Sonic Boom and powered by Eat Lights Become Lights kraut-ian vapour trails. The album will, when released, appear in two separate variations – the CD and download will get the original unadulterated mix while for vinyl heads there will be a special 2 disc set cut at 45rpm featuring a more expansive headphonic experience.

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