Style: atmospheric drum n bass, breakbeat
Primary Emotions/Themes: self discovery, romance, anime
Thoughts: Drum 'n bass, especially the anime themed variety is such an acquired taste for me. 95% of the time when I listen to it, it does absolutely nothing for me and I end up turning it off after a few minutes... but there is that remaining 5%.
I'm not sure what drew me to Fragile Heart Clicker. The cover certainly wasn't it. Based solely on that this album is an easy pass. It may have been the design of the record itself. The physical presentation in that aspect is top notch. Maybe that was it.
Ultimately though it does not matter, yu55ii's Fragile Heart Clicker somehow caught my attention long enough for me to put on a youtube stream of the album. Oh boy am I glad I did... these 25 minutes are pretty intense.
The atmosphere is front and center during every song here. It is the glue that binds everything together. The blanket that not only covers every iota of the music, but also the fabric that permeates every orifice that comes with it. It's all encompassing and completely unavoidable.
This is drum 'n bass though, so the atmosphere is not the only thing that it has going on. The beats... oh the beats are great. They are produced front and center and when present are the obvious focus of the album. Not every song has them, nor does every song need them... but when present they are the driving force of the album.
The beats are creative, and not just the standard fare that I've come to expect from the genre. The interplay between the snare and the bass drum is the real star here. They will playfully intertwine with each other in constant harmony, or they will clash with each other in unpredictable ways. I never know what they are going to do, but it never sounds forced and never sounds bad. It just flows.
When the drums are not flowing the atmosphere takes over completely. These ambient tracks are a wonderful break to the intensity of the percussion driven tracks. They aren't very long but they are well done and give the album a more complete feel.
Even though Fragile Heart Clicker is only 25 minutes long, it's exactly what I want out of this genre. It's intense, it doesn't overstay its welcome, it keeps things interesting, and the album works... it just works. I haven't checked out the other releases from yv55ii but I feel like I'm a bit more inclined now that I've properly digested this one.
No comments:
Post a Comment