- Galaxian is one of electro's most exciting producers because he uses the the genre as a launchpad. Last year, he explored uptempo hijinks on Uprising and stuffed an album's worth of ideas into the Blowback EP. At a time when electro is particularly popular, he's helping take the genre to the next level. His latest record, Paradise Engineering, might be his most impressive yet. Its four tracks are dizzying in scope, tinkering with the electro formula while retaining its momentum.
The title track lays out the EP's themes—surveillance, self, freedom—with an impressionistic poem spat out by a text-to-speech generator. Paranoia and conspiracy are nothing new to electro (just look at DJ Stingray's discography), though they sound especially intense here. "Life Force" features vocal samples spinning around the stereo spectrum, as acid lines congeal into a harsh arpeggio hurtling towards a climax. This is electro turned up to 11, where drums glitch and stutter with the brute force of breakcore. "You Don't Matter" takes a similar tack, with jackhammering drums that come from all angles. The chaos is offset by the beautiful "Mutual Arising," where Galaxian subdues the rhythms and lets them coast for eight minutes. (You could call it ambient electro.) No matter what he tries, Galaxian nails it.
TracklistA1 Paradise Engineering
A2 Mutual Arising
B1 Life Force
B2 You Don't Matter