You won’t stay seated for this one. Seriously, give it a try. There should be medals awarded to anyone who can actually work while listening to Daniel Avery’s Drone Logic. If one was looking for an example of electronic music evoking imagery lucid and potent, this is it.
In case you’re not familiar with the man, Avery is like the Oakenfolds of yesteryear in that he jets off to clubs around the world, lighting up dance floors much like today’s Will.I.Shit collabing Guettas do. But what separates him from both camps, particularly the latter, is his true craftsmanship. Avery is often held up by other musicians as one of the best in electronica; constantly pushing the genre and comprehending the structure of great house music (perhaps due to his time as a resident DJ at Fabric before even making his own music).
Avery creates a soundscape of mountains, valleys and deep seas; for around 70 minutes you’re on planet Avery – and it’s like Detroit got Berlin pregnant, but London raised the baby. Even to the untrained ear, Avery keeps pushing expectations and forms a complete album of the highest underground electronica order. The whole thing plays seamlessly beginning to end and at no point feels like just a collection of tracks picked out among a couple dozen Ableton successes.
Perhaps the most astonishing thing is the complete lack of gimmicky drops: they’re somehow unpredictable yet have that tingling, euphorically perfect, skin crawling sensation that a great DJ set can deliver. At other points the 4/4 loops your parents might not “get” build to a climax that then never quite comes – they simply trail off into something else and something better. Daniel Avery’s Drone Logic is a masterstroke worthy of your attention, and despite only coming out earlier this week, has soared somewhere near the top of our albums of the year.
10/10
10/10
No Comments