5 out of 5

Label: Central Processing Unit

Produced by: Carl Finlow

Every CPU-released Silicon Scally set is worth listening to. While the exact spread of tracks produced by Scally – Carl Finlow – may make the albums / EPs best or better in comparison to one another, they all have excellent tracks, with sole missteps thus far due to sequencing, or Finlow sometimes hanging out in a beat for too long.

Field Lines collects everything that’s been grand so far and tightens it, every track a precise expression of mood with a catchy, unique beat, and then seals the deal to the absolute by nailing the feeling of an actual progression from album’s start to finish.

Finlow kicks things off with a set of compositions that have a familiar, playful, housiness to them; but whereas this has previously led to tracks that are catchy but not always too evolved, Receptors and the couple tracks that follow bring out an inner DMX Krew, channeling Ed’s fantastic ability to pare a track down to its bare essentials while dropping elements in and out at just the right rate to keep it groovin’. The same deal happens here, filtered through a pretty modern sounding bounce. On Amino, Carl starts to blend in aspects of the album’s next section: darker themes meld with the more youthful ones, with the track earning its 6+ minute extended runtime in an intense conclusion. Homage and Submerged go grime, ditching the former playfulness for something much moodier, then going on full-on assault with Static Fire, the album’s most aggressive track. Perfectly leading into the comedown: Yield is exactly the type of minimalist stuff that sort of goes astray on other Scally releases, hanging around and repeating for too long, but it’s perfectly placed here, bridging things from the former tracks’ gloominess to the totes funky and fun closer Altered Domain.

It’s all still recognizably Scally, but by leveraging the full scope of a release, Carl Finlow has found an all-star way to apply his styles, masterfully head-bobbing us way through 9 excellent tracks.