Artist: Autoclav1.1 / Displacer
Title: Spacetime
Genre: Electronic
Release Date: 11th August 2017
Label: WTII Records
Album Review
Both DISPLACER and AUTOCLAV1.1 have enriched electronic music over the years with their very own abstractions of the genre, continuously striving to evolve together with their music. Dwelling in the past has never been an option. The paths of both projects have crossed at various points in the past already. Those collaborations spawned a sleuth of remixes and a 2-track EP called ‘The Star Atlas’ back in 2015. Space and all the wonders and mysteries it still holds were already a source of inspiration back then and are being elaborated on much further now on the duo’s first full-length ‘Spacetime’ which sets off with ‘Cluster Of You’ that has the most glacial ambient textures up its sleeves and yet still holds a mysterious undercurrent of warmth to it. Maybe I’d just find floating in space strangely cosy. Hope I’ll never have to find that out. What I was actually getting at: This opening piece really gets you there in your mind. The sound design there is ridiculously effective.
DISPLACER comes up next with ‘Traveller’ and even though a similar mood is set-up here it is yet vastly different in the way it approaches things with bells echoing through the nothingness and that instantly recognizable way of handling rhythmic patterns, The track personally reminds me a lot of how ‘Night Gallery’ sounded, and I do still love that album. ‘Gravitational’ becomes an exercise in how to apply murderous bass waves to minimal techno and a lo-fi ambience and either you want it or not, that thing gets you somewhere down the road. With ‘Electron Degeneracy’ comes along something that sounds like it got stuck somewhere between the heavens and outer space. It connects to the earth as much as it does to the realms that go beyond our small minded understanding of what is out there, additionally it’s got some great beats and melodies revealing whose hands have crafted it.
‘Cygnus’ not only is the Latinised Greek word for the elegant swan, it is also a northern constellation which connects back rather splendidly with the theme of the record. Also the track borrows one of the most prominent characteristics from a swan. Even though it’s a rather bass-heavy piece, the construction in itself bears a glacial elegancy that tugs you right in. While initially not appealing to me very much, I must admit that ‘Heliopause’ has kind of a relaxing tone to that I really enjoy. It is not an overly complex piece, rather dwelling on painting a picture out of aural autumnal colours. The following ‘Horizon’ goes way beyond what is its title. It just feels like the beat work is merely ornamental within the whole construct since the warped textures alone would work very well as a framework sending you on a cerebral journey. Actually, the entire album works very well being just that. Some tracks to a lesser extent than others. In the end , though, it isn’t enough to disrupt the flow ‘Spacetime’ has without a doubt, and the different approaches to the songs just make it that tiny bit more interesting than other releases.
Tracklist
01. Cluster Of You [Autoclav1.1]
02. Traveller [Displacer]
03. Orbit & Entry AV [Autoclav1.1]
04. Gravitational [Displacer]
05. Electron Degeneracy [Autoclav1.1]
06. Shift [Displacer]
07. Gravitational Lensing [Autoclav1.1]
08. Cygnus [Displacer]
09. Heliopause [Autoclav1.1]
10. Horizon [Displacer]
11. Uranometria [Autoclav1.1]
12. Plutonian [Displacer]
Line-up
Tony Young
Michael Morton
Website
http://autoclavonline.com / https://www.facebook.com/Autoclav11-41967751781
http://www.displacer.ca/ https://www.facebook.com/displacermusic
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 8
Sound: 9
Total: 8.5 / 10
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