Morgan Packard - Moment Again Elsewhere

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  • The Brooklyn-based Anticipate Recordings has always presented a clear counterpoint to the more techno-oriented sounds trafficked in by Microcosm, its sister label. Both may be owned and operated by the same team—led by Ezekiel Honig, an accomplished producer in his own right—but each stable of artists exists to serve very different creative ends. Morgan Packard, a long time cohort, serves as the missing link between the two, lacing his delicately textured sound design with a rigid percussion backbone only a few BPM below dance floor readiness. Falling somewhere between warm 'n fuzzy armchair IDM and the sort of refined, mechanistic sound design one might expect from minimal techno of the Berlin school, Packard's productions exist as an artificial reproduction of the natural; digital rhythms giving way to wind chimes gently swaying in the breeze. On paper, Packard's approach simply shouldn't work: ambient microhouse produced with homebrew Max patches adorned with sparse saxophone and accordion arrangements? From a conceptual standpoint, it sounds ridiculous... But it works. The breathy tones of Packard's "real" instruments lend the digitized output of his software a real sense of depth and warmth, rendering what could have been a clinically academic disc of experimental electronics an inviting, supple ambience. While much of Moment Again Elsewhere occupies a strange, digitally-tinged aesthetic space, Packard's sound design is still discernibly organic, lending the proceedings an almost hyperreal vibe. "Unveil" is texturally reminiscent of Reich's Music for 18 Musicians, all pulsating tone cycles and fluttering piano chords; a subtle nod to Packard's minimalist forebears. Meanwhile, "Window" brings to mind the squelchy sound design of Jan Jelinek's work as Farben. Many of the clattering ambient washes Packard deploys throughout the album even recall Tim Hecker's early releases for Mille Plateaux, albeit stripped of Hecker's signature strum und drang. Packard manages to not just pay homage to his peers, he also succeeds in translating his influences into something indisputably individual. While Packard's 2007 debut, Airships Fill The Sky, may have been an excellent record in its own right, it always seemed a bit too aware of its own influences. This time around, Packard has found his voice, turning in another excellent entry into the Anticipate catalogue.
  • Tracklist
      01. Ready 02. Unveil 03. Allow 04. Insist 05. Persist 06. Although 07. Window 08. Explain 09. Again 10. Elsewhere 11. Moment 12. Reveal
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