Arecibo Message is a move away from the heavily sequenced previous work of Boxcutter, with a move into the more organic [if you can call it that] realm of analogue synths, guitar pedals and analogue delays.
The first track on Arecibo Message is straight into Burial territory, with its heavily reverbed aural spaces and vocal sample manipulation. Unfortunately, Boxcutter doesn’t do either as expertly, but the effect is quite the same. The drum patterns on this track are well produced, as with the whole album, but they never venture far from standard dubstep fare.
Track Two – Mya Rave steps up the pace a little and includes a humorous yet emotional rave synth sequence that harks back to early Prodigy output. The beat is 2-Step and Drum and Bass influenced, and the track features some all out vocal manipulation. Mya Rave will undoubtedly be used in the clubs, and probably to devastating effect, what with the nice warm breakdown and the classic rave synth programming.
Tracks three and four on Arecibo Message bring the album to a whole new level, and we start to see why Boxcutter is starting to gain national and international plaudits. The title track Arecibo Message has a darker mood than either of the first two songs, and is very much welcome. The song has a real dance floor feel to it and seems to make use of sounds that manage to be dark and moody, yet uplifting at the same time.
Track four SpaceBass is a gem of a track. Right from the off we hear a Roland TR 808 doing its thing along with the previously mentioned delay pedals, and the track continues on its sonic journey in becoming a real electro disco gem, with strong shades of Legowelt and Alexander Robotnik. On listening I immediately thought that SpaceBass was like the Beverly Hills Cop theme tune being strapped up and buckled down for its journey into the 21st century. Nice!
The rest of Arecibo Message never gets back to the strength of tracks three and four, yet the album has good production values and great bass lines throughout. There is a lot of influence from Garage and 2-Step, as the drum programming will testify, but Boxcutter never forgets his Dub and Dubstep roots. Boxcutter finds the time to venture into Electro Funk and instrumental Hip Hop as tracks eleven and thirteen will testify.
All in all this album is pretty good. If you are already a Boxcutter fan, you will love it, and be eagerly awaiting the next time you see him live. For a Boxcutter novice, Arecibo Message will start to introduce you to the many influences that Dubstep has at its roots, while also keeping the party flowing along nicely.
Buy this at BLEEP
Boxcutter was invited on BBC1 by UK Bass Music most beloved promoter Mary Anne Hobbs and just dropped an wild mix to introduce his amazing upcoming 3rd album to be released on planet mu on april’s 20th. It features the lush and essential “Earth is My Spaceship (Otherside RMX)” you’ll find on ARX001.
Bun-Zer0 has been DJing both in his native Belgium for over 15 years, and most recently internationally including recent performances at the legendary night FWD>> in London, as well as a three hour set in the USA.
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