seven

enter the sentimental and beautifully attractive idm soundscapes of one unique individual that is josh presseisen. i have to say that this release was a dramatic step forward from "ballad of the round ball." presseisen’s work on his sophomore release was good by many standards, but with this release we see that the larvae has taken metamorphosis to the butterfly. accompanied by strangely unique & surreal artwork provided by mother, wendy presseisen, we engage new directions in experimental idm.

there are several directions taken on this release, to nail it down with one single description would be an understatement. the opening track "the wolf’s howl" pulls us in with distorted howls that dissolve slowly with catchy layered melodies that are accompanied by quantum trip hop rhythms and bubbly patches. the next track, "searching for the sasha wolf," fades into a colorful video game-esq habitat of reverbed string harmonies and organs, alluring foreign female vocals samples, drop phased lasers, and playful paced rhythms.

a very lovable track "crescent moon blues" concentrates on layers of 70-esq reverbed keyboard harmonies and jazz grooves. while track four provides a short but very effective spacey r & b movements with and 80-esq guitar electro patches. "the hunger" busts into another direction with bouncy rhythms and child-like harmonies that could be a result of unlikely remix project between aphex twin and starfish pool.

track six moves to a much darker electro standard with solid cold synths that are patched with quadrants of off-world alien frequencies and trip-hop tempos. while track ten, "subwolfer" builds sluggish cold synths and electro-bass harmonies as they pace nicely with funk-driven grooves. "war of the wolves" engages us with radiant melancholic melodies that move along sentimental surfaces of ascending bass pads and softly paced rhythms, which provides as the most introspectively beautifully piece on this release next to the last track, "meltdown of earth." the latter glows with luminescent psychedelic string harmonies, spacey hawaiian trip-hop beats and a dark organ melodies.

very personal and surreal dynamics throughout this fourteen track piece could be compared to those of skam’s early artists such as boards of canada, or early autechre combined with warp’s plaid. all that is mixed with a fresh new outlook, creating something that will be added to my list of idm favorites.