Lone - Ecstasy and Friends
Sungrazer Cascade
It overflows with sample-heavy melodies that morph at a snail's jog as instruments and harmonies are added and swapped in imperceptible increments.
Lone's big influences are Madlib and Boards of Canada, and sometimes this is the perfect lovechild of the two, with the added glaze of Lone's own unique synthetics. He reminds me of Four Tet, and especially Bibio, but here probably most resembles DOOM on his Special Herbs series. He layers delicious loops in the catchy way old Metal Fingers made us love, only with, as mentioned earlier, an accoutrement of novel sounds: rusty squeaks, haunting horns, the occasional bird call, and always the icy echo that encases this album like a crust on snow.
Some of the individual tracks are completely revelatory. "The Twilight Switch" sports a fantastic instrument, like a harpschichord played by the dangling glass of a chandelier. The mellow, descending "Karen Loves Kate" loop somehow both broods and rejoices. "Sungrazer Cascade" is what they play at clubs in paradise. "Waves Imagination" is a perfect DOOMstrumental.
But ultimately, it is the effect of the cohesive whole that pushes E&F toward transcendence. If you're looking to throw a rave in an ice cavern, or simply for a solid beats/electronica album, look no further. Lone is right here.
Release: December 8, 2009
Label: Werkdisc
