THe morning after the night before: arc rae – Primitive #IDM #Ambient #Electronic
For anyone who follows Northern Ireland yesterday was a bit of a day.
A deal was done to keep the Government running in the early hours. The First Minister was nominated at lunchtime despite a vote against within the DUP. The leader resigned come the evening after a vote of no confidence but the First minister is still in place. But for how long and who knows what comes next?
I’m assuming that there will be some sore heads this morning, so I’m recommending you have a listen to arc rae’s new album Primitive and consider your next move carefully.
arc rae is a Berlin-based electronic artist and sound designer. The album is available on stream, download and vinyl. It opens with Honest Mistake, an ambient tune of IDM glitches and crackles. Despite the electronic noise it’s also a tune of Boards of Canada like warmth and feeling. Wistful and melancholic. This is followed by Atlas, a track that more consciously stumbles amid the xylophone sounds and burbling beats.
Pick Your Poison is an album highlight. It offers gentle dub techno beats and throbs alongside an IDM glitchiness. It has little shards of guitar and a deliciously dangerous swirl about it that envelops you. Spirit Animal hums away in ambient fashion before Body Language takes over with slow woodblocks and Rhodes ripples.
Fossils allows more guitar into the picture in an almost ne age moment. Life Cycle brings the electronic back to focus with a track of held tones and an almost drone feeling. It’s all waiting on the shore until exquisite strings arrive to give voice to the emotion held within. The album closes with Wasted Time, a hazy wavy melancholic, downbeat ending. Just perfect.
Arc rae has delivered a beautiful album of quiet ambient and IDM moments for contemplation of life’s uncertainties and vagaries.
ACID TED 