4 out of 5

Label: Rephlex

Producer: Astrobotnia

The best of the initial ‘botnia offerings, Part 03 is a listen of evolving depth, where the more one steps through the recordings the more layers and layers of sound can be noted or are revelaed.  It’s also more focused than Part 01, which got a little silly at moments.  03 brings to mind childhood, floating – if the series is an exploration of space and time, Part 03 is closing one’s eyes and just letting a sense of space and freedom wash over.  It’s playful and warm and inviting, making the album very listenable over and over again, the beginning and ending seamlessly flowing into one another.  If you’re in search of ambiance, you can keep it as background, and just listen for the light IDM lain atop waves of sound.  But turn up the volume and step inside and doors open – beats pinging off at angles, rhythm shifting up and down, memories of melodies floating about.  However, this welcoming sensibility makes the album lack the moody mystery that Part 01 would drop into at moments.  Those select portions of 01 were very effective; they could make you stop in your tracks and stare at the sky with stupid questions percolating all a’bibble in yer bobble.  03 doesn’t quite have that.  It makes you feel, but not think, really.  It’s just a very pleasant sensation.  Only late in the game, with the cutely titled ‘C*nt’ does the record hint at some restlessness and something more, with discordant drum rushes building and slowing, hedged against a background layer that morphs from cold to hot depending on how that beat moves.

Still, the consistency of the emotions presented slot it with the best of Rephlex.  A lot of albums from the label (or IDM releases in general) struggle to maintain a straight face for the entire record, there generally being a definitive few tracks around which the rest are built.  It’s something Richard James is great at (to my ears), and so it’s always nice to add another recording to that stack of the higher echelon.