POLYSICK: Digital Native (Planet Mu)

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Posted on Jun 14th 2012 12:43 am

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Polysick: Digital Native

POLYSICK
Digital Native
ZIQ324
Planet Mu 2012
15 Tracks. 59mins53secs

Amazon UK: CD | LP | DLD US: CD | LP | DLD Boomkat: CD | LP iTunes: DLD

Like many of his contemporaries, Egisto Sopor operates under a number of aliases, but, despite a few CDr and cassette releases in recent years, Digital Native is his official debut full length, published through Planet Mu’s auspicious channel.

Hailing from Rome, Sopor, who also co-runs DVD and video imprint and production unit AAVV, who have been getting noticed in some electronic circles in recent months, claims that, when he works on a track, he usually has visuals in mind. It is therefore not surprising to find many cinematic moments scattered across this record, but the mood is never set for very long here. Dreamy soundscapes and laidback ambiences often collide with more upbeat or unsettling moments. Equally, Sopor’s abundance of influences range from early acid, techno or electro to ambient, dark electronica and disco, and are at times placed in sharp contrast from each other, as if he was purposely trying to confuse his audience as to exactly who or what is Polysick; and over the course of the fifteen tracks collated here, he has plenty of opportunities to do just that.

The album opens with a series of jazz-tinted chords which, despite a miniature tribal set of percussions, initially hint at drum’n’bass, but this is blown completely out of the water when a squelchy synthetic bass rises to the surface, only for everything to become much hazier a few seconds later. In just two minutes forty, Sopor manages to pack in a surprising amount without seemingly changing focus much. This is pretty indicative of how Digital Native behaves, yet the majority of the compositions presented here are developed in a more linear fashion, Sopor adopting a particular form for each new track and sticking to it pretty much the whole way through.

At its most synthetic and fluid, Digital Native becomes a pretty rich experience. The beautiful Taito for instance, driven by dreamy arpeggios and lush analog soundwaves, develops steadily over nearly six minutes. Later on, Worldcup adopts a similar shimmering form, albeit slowed down somewhat drastically, whilst Drowse, although moodier, thrives from a touch of old style synthetic experimentation. Equally, Bermuda, with its rippling psychedelic arpeggios, or the acid reflux of Meltinacid or Transpelagic are fascinating interpretations of late eighties electronica.

Elsewhere, the tone becomes more dramatic and offsetting. Loading.. may a relatively straight-forward piece, but behind its sleek Detroit exteriors seem to lurk dark currents which occasionally bubble up in loose clusters of effervescent squelches and distorted soundwaves. Things turn even more disconcerting with the dissonant chords of Caravan or the repetitive clatter which feeds through the whole of Tic-Tac-Toe. At the other end of the scale, Sopor distils a rather chirpy slice of acid disco on Preda which is not with evoking Luke Vibert’s Kerrier District.

Digital Native occasionally suffers from this extensive touche-à-tout exercise, but Egisto Sopor’s playful approach largely makes up for the slight lack of focus. If he tries to pack an awful lot in just an hour, he does so with a high level of enthusiasm. Perhaps the strongest point of this record however is how Sopor interprets his influences and makes them fit into his own distorted universe.

3.8/5

Polysick (Soundcloud) | Planet Mu
Amazon UK: CD | LP | DLD US: CD | LP | DLD Boomkat: CD | LP iTunes: DLD

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