Layering a thumping, staggered, skeletal beat with deconstructed vocals that sound like fragments of an ancient war cry, this track eventually reveals itself more as a love song than a battle field...although, maybe sometimes there's little difference. Forever in the shadows, love reveals itself in the darkness.
Nothing Without
GENRE is elusive. Descriptive adjectives will lead you down the path instead:
Rebel // Hopeful // Euphoric // Ethereal // Floating // Freedom // Slavery // Industrial // Natural // Love // Mystic // Oceans // Sky scrapers // Storms // Apocalyptic // Infinity // Angular // Alien // Seductive // Journey // Discovery // Melancholy
Rebel // Hopeful // Euphoric // Ethereal // Floating // Freedom // Slavery // Industrial // Natural // Love // Mystic // Oceans // Sky scrapers // Storms // Apocalyptic // Infinity // Angular // Alien // Seductive // Journey // Discovery // Melancholy
Circles & Squares is an imaginative and stylistically diverse full length solo effort by Erik Laar (Off Centre DJ School, Toronto). It lightly echoes turntable production aesthetics from his earlier iNSiDEaMiND releases, but here vocals and melody punctuate the complex emotions emanating from his drum machines. The focus on incorporating live samples including his own vocals creates a folky element in an otherwise predominantly beat-centric "electronic" sound.
- DOWNLOAD THE ALBUM -
- DOWNLOAD THE ALBUM -
Erik is known best as an accomplished experimental turntablist/beat maker and this crackle pop vinyl influence can be heard when untangling his multi-layered compositions. On this album though, melodies and harmonies balance out the intricate textures and rhythms with dreamy celestial moods. The dark and brooding side of his production makes an appearance, but mostly you can expect downtempo lullabies with clever drum sequencing and throbbing bass driven pulses with fragments of stirring lyrics. The dramatic shifts in tempo and form, as well as the balanced blend of live acoustic and electronic samples are what make this album unique.