Fugenn & The White Elephants - Archetype Zero (CD)

I keep listening to this over and over again, not just because I like it but because I'm so easily distracted I'm considering going for ADD therapy. Then the Ethernet cable broke, this after I laughed and pointed at Phil struggling with a couple at work this week -karma you say? Thank the lord I had a nice long yellow one in my leopard print plastic bag so here is my review of the bizarre world inhabited by Fugenn and his éléphante blanc. Well I know that the gaffer caused hilarity and uproar in the office by stating "this is the Japanese Aphex Twin" He may have well said this is the Latvian Slayer for all it's worth. This guy is talented and makes very good melodic IDM, comparison over. There's plenty of those playful stellar melodies you'd be daft or hateful not to enjoy and some very cool trippy beats plus mucho hyper-rhythmic delight throughout.

'Archetype Zero' is basically a fresh, incredibly detailed take on some old glitchy tricks, a bright saturated hypnotic whirlwind of innovative beatery that can even veer into NHK-esque machine-gun tough territory such as 'Temple in the Moon' without losing the flow like...Following that with a sample-heavy journey into stuttering ambient fields and subsequently an eerier, claustrophobic piece I particularly enjoy called 'Nether'- all digital scree, dark samples and thrilling jack-beats. Keeping it tight, propulsive and interesting 'Different Space' explores frantic layered glitch-beat dimensions overlaid with soothing ambient keys, 'Purgatorium' sounds like Venetian Snares having a delicious cocktail instead of a razor blade enema and the concluding 'Vacuum' melds reflective piano-like keys over a lolloping backward-masked break with some quasi industrial textures and sun-kissed bliss to create possibly the prettiest tune on the album. Nice work Shuji!