Arovane - Atol Scrap

djproject, Nov 18, 2005

Back when this album was released, I thought it was grossly unfair to say that Arovane was a complete rip-off of Autechre and that this album in particular makes culpable of such a copy. To say that Arovane = Autechre is like saying Johannes Brahms = Ludwig van Beethoven or Enimem = Dr. Dre. Yes you can make connections and make lots of similarities between the two, but in the end Arovane is Arovane and Autechre is Autechre.

This album is solid but not groundbreaking. But thats OK since not every album can be groundbreaking or take you to a new height. It is a return to the intelligent ambient idea popularized by Warp Records in their Artificial Intelligence series (where Autechre got their start on Warp) where melody and technology can go together and where the seemingly cold electronics can be like a warm fire or a cuddle on the couch. It is robotic/computer music with a soul and a heart (listen to "R/Elet" and youll see what I mean). If Autechre is pushing boundaries and establishing new countries, Arovane is making sure a home town is established in the wild frontiers of electronic music.

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