- A triumphant second album from a consistently groundbreaking New York duo.
- When I interviewed AceMoMA in June 2020, I asked the New York duo how they managed their busy schedule. "The stuff's going to get made!" AceMo enthused. "It's the only thing that can come out, or else we'd be in the middle of the fucking streets right now." For about as long as they've been producing together, AceMo and MoMA Ready have been purposefully casual when it comes to releasing music. Most of the music is made during the duo's frequent jam sessions, and when the time feels right, they make it public. There's little room for hang-ups about whether the music is good or not—when the message is due to be released, it will be. Luckily, the music, whether it's released separately or through their joint project, never misses the mark. Collectively, they've been responsible for not only a stellar run of releases in recent years, but also a wider effort to highlight the wealth of talent, namely Black talent, in US dance music through their Haus Of Altr label.
The pair might have their footing in the roughshod jungle, charming house and Detroit techno of the '90s, but they've always kept the future in sight. They know that good work becomes the stuff of legend and folklore when it contributes to a larger ecosystem that will be felt long past one's time. This ability to look beyond what's immediately in front of them often yields some surprisingly prescient music. Their 2020 debut A New Dawn involved similarly prophetic themes: titles like "Disrupt The System" and "Start The Riot" spoke to a silent but steadily growing disillusionment with the status quo in the music industry and beyond, which would ultimately come to a head in May 2020 following the murder of George Floyd.
The dark, cavorting energy of that record makes room for something more demure on their second full-length together, A Future, which was put together from sessions dating between 2017 and 2021. The athletic arrangement of breaks that distinguished that record is still present, but this time they arrive with burnished edges. There's a pleasant sheen across the album—which was mastered by MoMA Ready himself—as breaks entwine, backflip and retreat throughout the album.
On "1 Million Breaks," clusters of percussion advance and lurch backwards, while the broken beat in "Renegade Seance" is a delight to follow due to its sharp and seemingly improvisational use of empty space. Drums emerge out of thin air, twist and turn like cyclones, only to vanish as suddenly as they showed up. Similarly jerky, unpredictable percussion baffles on "Titan." "Legend Of The African Samurai II" builds on the wildly hiccuping rhythm of their 2020 track, "Legend Of The African Samurai," but this version's slithering atmosphere makes it sound like the score for a ferocious combat scene.
AceMoMA share a deep love for house and jazz (the latter of which they make sure to thank in the liner notes), and this love comes through in the mellifluous melodies that sweep across the record. Much of this could be attributed AceMo. In a 2019 interview with Love Injection, MoMA Ready said of his partner's contributions to the duo: "He understands synthesis. People like to hear chords and synth lines. He's amazing at leads. His leads in tracks are super addicting to listen to." "Time Woven Space" has this gift written all over it, tooting out an airy synthline buoyed by warm textures. Channeling the ineffable cosmic power of its muse, "Finding Polaris" shimmers with bright notes and drizzling chords. Drowsy pads condense over a "Formation Of A Sun," and washed with a gently landing melody, it puts a fitting soundtrack to the awe-inspiring experience of capturing a sunrise.
At this point in their career, AceMoMA are simply undefeated in their craft, and to top it off, they're working under a compelling Afrofuturist mindset that allows them to honor the past while zooming forward. On the album's closer and title track, marching percussion guides us to another realm with renewed optimism, and a trumpet distantly blares, most likely provided courtesy of AceMo (who grew up playing the instrument). Perhaps it's our final signal to get moving, as this duo is already light years ahead of us.
Tracklist01. The Next Level
02. Forest Bounce
03. Legend Of The African Samurai II
04. 1 Million Breaks
05. Group Meditation
06. Titan
07. Mycelium Dance
08. Finding Polaris
09. Renegade Seance
10. Time Woven Space
11. Formation Of A Sun
12. A Future