3 out of 5

Label: Analogical Force

Produced by: Thomas Pahl

Back in my youth, when the only electronic outfit I followed was Aphex Twin, there was… everything else. It would take me some time to come around to genres that weren’t like Richard-D.-James-of-a-particularly-glitchy-era, but even then, I had a hard time venturing out too far from IDM, stuck with some 90s definitions of “techno,” perhaps defined by what the kids bought most often at the mall music store at which I worked, and which albums the rave kid would put on. I’d hold my nose with my music-judgey elitism and stock such CDs, quite bored by their either (I assumed) drug- or liquor-reliant booty-shaking repetition, or just unimpressed by the lack of, I dunno, bloop-blop weirdness that I found in the Rephlex crew.

The elitist in my still survives: Vertical67’s Changes somewhat brought me back to that time, recalling trancey stuff like Orbital; the accessibility of The Chemical Brothers… groups / creators that I should more rightly say just “aren’t my thing.” Where Vertical67 plugged into this – though copping some very Rephlex-y moves from Classics-era Aphex, or early Global Goon, or even some big beat Raczynski – is in how… unchanging it all is. I suppose what I mostly associated with these acts was the way danceability came first; I didn’t sense much exploration, or the kind of self-aware kitsch I’d come to appreciate in clubbers like Ed DMX. This meant that tracks found a “hook” in the way that mainstream pop would, and then embellished that hook. Just as mainstream pop tends to not be my thing, that lack of appeal carries over to its electronic representations.

But ‘Changes’ is an accurate title, both in how the album shifts towards more expressive works as it goes on, and also how – for me – it brings to mind a seasonal change, like leaves turning; something subtle, and slower. And that’s very much here, evidenced quite brilliantly on the way opener Upside Down slowly builds to a relative crescendo of beats and synth layers – it’s underwhelming and somewhat repetitive if you’re not giving it the time to evolve, and that’s a trick repeated across several of the album’s 5+ minute tracks. Halfway through, ‘Moments Of Joy’ changes the game, showing off Vertical67’s ability to mimic the more shift and slippery stylings of muZiq or some of the others referenced, but still sticking with the artist’s somewhat purposefully underwhelming mixing / production style, which gives the synths an organic warmth but doesn’t overemphasize any real layer, even the beat. I don’t know if I’m wholly sold on this – it’s another reason it took me a while the warm to the album, because it’s kind of a blase sound – but I can appreciate how it complements the slow roll approach.

After this midway point, I do think the album’s sound becomes a bit less muffled, and more willing to let loose, but the whole thing is still characterized by a topdown vibe of minimalism, and linearity.

It’s a good lesson (to the me of now, perhaps the past me as well) to give all music some time and space to be heard. I still don’t know if Changes is exactly for me, but I respect the craft Vertical67 has put on display.