Carl Craig - Just Another Day

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  • Though technically an EP, Craig's 2004 conceptual ode to serene futurism Just Another Day is more like a mini-album that packs a massive punch. Across four tracks (five on this re-release owing to an updated edit of "Sandstorm") what's still most striking is how noise made by inanimate machines can conjure such alarmingly human emotions. There's no mistaking the terrain: It's post-apocalyptic, tentative and pregnant with an unspoken uncertainty that is so often aligned with techno but which all too rarely manifests itself. Testament to the power of opener "Twilight"'s lingering melody is that it was a standout moment on Hawtin's 2005 Transitions mix, despite being one of literally hundreds of tracks. Here, it's the soft-focus, gently bleeping scene-setter that speaks of loves lost with a hopeful reverence. "Darkness" is more wrought with tension, its synths are taut, the sci-fi FX more ominous and you feel as if the walls are closing in before "Sandstorm" goes smooth and deep to rather settle the mood. Listen to "Sandstorm" closely though and there's the sound of an army aligning its troops, with a bristling tension just about subdued by the warm desert winds above. It's the calm before the imminent storm of closer "Experimento" which blisters and bubbles like heat-damaged plastic. Though depraved and desecrated, it relies on none of the usual signifiers to cause maximum impact, and closes out what is one of techno's most devastating works.
  • Tracklist
      A1 Twilight A2 Darkness B1 Sandstorms B2 Experimento
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