3 out of 5

Label: self-released

Produced by: Evan Majumdar-Swift

I know it’s not fair to all of the many amazing artists and labels out there who are doing digital-only releases, but… I tend to come around to those listens last, perhaps when I’ve exhausted the physical releases from whichever artist or label. It’s especially silly since I rip CDs or, after giving a vinyl a spin, resort to listening to the album on bandcamp or whatever, I just can’t help it: the physical version makes it feel more “real,” and lets me tie those computerized listens back to an actual object.

And so there came a point where not only had I exhausted 96 Back’s physical catalog, but it also seemed like Evan Majumdar-Swift was maybe going digital only anyway, or at least was doing a lot more in than format versus very sporadic physical releases. So I bit the bullet, and I’ve been diving in to those remaining bits and bobs from his oeuvre.

While, perhaps unsurprisingly, there are some gems to be found, I kept hesitating to check out ADRISM, 96 Back’s – I believe – first fully digital release. Unlike the stuff that followed, which was sandwiched between other physical drops and tended to be EPs, ADRISM was a full album, self-released, and, by dint of being the first, the lone digital album from Evan for at least a bit. More succinctly: the later stuff had an air of experimentation, whereas ADRISM suggested kind of a lack of confidence – that it would be something different, and I’m not sure how well it will go over, so here’s a non-physical, self-released thing.

I’m sure it wasn’t like that at all, but that was my perception. And probably my bias, too: because ADRISM is… kinda boring. Its “difference” is in Evan taking his first full-on stab towards more emotional, ambient fare – definitely a direction he’d go in on later – but it’s a cautious stab that feels rather safely produced and composed, taking notes / beats from the less glitch-y side of Aphex and easing up on the low-end. It’s pretty glossy, lowkey stuff. Which admittedly fits its narrative of being a break up album, if read as the quiet time when you’re kind of past the anger and hurt and rebuilding, especially since Evan finally finds his “voice” again on the album’s best track – closer (and surely unironically named) Full Circle Adorationism: 96 Back combines the softer ambience with some glitch and bass, which somewhat aligns it with what Excitable, Girl was aiming for.

Up to this track, there are some good mid-era Rephlex type things (the B-tier classics, like Yee-King), and interesting but somewhat underdeveloped ambient stretches. It’s just all stuff you’ve mostly heard before, and without the sense of identity-seeking on Girl; rather, ADRISM shows the direction Evan knew he was heading in, but he sort of mimicked other artist’s version of it for the most part, unsure how to fully embrace it until that closing track.