Boxcutter - Arecibo Message

Arecibo Message

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Tracklist:
1. Sidetrak
2. Mya Rave v2
3. Arecibo Message
4. S p a c e b a s s
5. Arcadia 202
6. Old School Astronomy
7. A Familiar Sound
8. Free House Acid
9. Sidereal Day
10. Otherside Remix (Earth Is My Spaceship)
11. Lamp Post Funk
12. Kab 28
13. A Cosmic Parent


Boxcutter, or Barry Lynn when he's at home, is a well established artist in the nationwide Dubstep/electro scene. Far from being a Northern Irish artist who's done quite well for himself "despite" coming from N.I., instead much of us haven't paid much attention whilst he's been making a name for himself across the water. His previous album, Glyphic, was a thoroughly enjoyable piece of chilled out dubstep, Arecibo Message is distinctly darker and seemingly aimed more squarely at da club.

Sidetrak starts off tentatively enough, with bassy drones and spooky electronics. It's darker than previous works, and after a lengthy intro kicks off into dubby bass and a cacophony of drum clashes. The trademark jungle flute noises that you can't quite put your finger on are still present, as the brooding bassline plays us out, and into the definitively more upbeat Mya Rave v2. Well with a title like that it should be, really. It's a much more lively affair and is the sort of thing I wouldn't mind hearing on the dancefloor. If this was the sort of thing they played at the Box, then i'd have no problem. Once they sorted the crowd out, that is. Blippity bloppity fast paced electronics and a dark bassline ensure this one's the one you'll be skipping back to. On your iPod that is, not in the camp way.

Title track Arecibo Message starts off with a few strange noises that sounds like a robot being disturbed from hangover sleep (Trust me). The thuddy bassline and creepy as fuck samples combine with the emergence of what sounds like a SNES end of level boss tune to create something truly....odd.

S p a c e b a s s delivers a funky bassline to ensure the creepysong/danceysong/creepysong/danceysong order is preserved. It's hard to write about and describe music like this that doesn't sit still for more than a few seconds, like a hyperactive dubstep child. It does however manage to sound innovative and again gives you a sense of pride that this kind of music is being made on your doorstep, it is possible to be inventive and DIY without plugging in a guitar and hitting overdrive.

Arcadia 202 is a bit of a slowburner.....well.....as much as a song lasting 3:14 can be. It chirps along fairly unremarkably to be honest...until the last minute or so when it starts to give a fuck a bit more. It's not unpleasant, but it doesn't help this albums flaw of slipping into the void of background music.

A Familiar Sound gets the guest vocals out for the leds, and helps give Arecibo Message a nice reference point. This is what you've listened up to, now let's listen to the rest of the album, kind of thing. It's again, not spectacular, but it's pretty cool and the watery electronics and echo vocal effects all add to the sense that you get whilst listening that hey, you're a pretty cool guy/girl.

Things thankfully pick up again with Free House Acid. The insane grandfather clock noise in the background and random blips and blops make this a pretty fun tune and gives the listener a break from the more creepy dubstep on the album.
Lamp Post Funk is great. I was going to say it does exactly what it says on the tin, but I don't know what brand of funk is befitting for a Lamp Post, tbfh. It's an extremely enjoyable, funky electro number though, and doesn't make you feel dirty for listening to electro dubstep which is normally enjoyed extremely late at night/early in the morning.

Arecibo Message is great fun, and it's a pretty innovative and inventive album of dubstep/electro. It manages to keep a melody throughout most of it without simply throwing a swear word in the title and basslines that will knacker your speakers. Again it's great to think that this sort of music is being produced locally, however, whilst a little solidarity may go a long way, it doesn't make up for average tunes. Discerning readers wit da eagle eyez may notice I didn't mention a few tracks. Mainly because a few tracks aren't worth mentioning. It took quite a lot of effort to listen to and review the album, that's not to say that it's by any means bad, but you have to pay some serious attention in order to see where one song ends and another begins, and while that's great at times and gives it a flow, it has a tendency to meld it into one big electro dubby mess. My standard criticism of you'dbehardpressedtowalkawayhumming, also applies here. You would have to go back and listen to specific songs to work out a tune in order to associate music with song title.

It's still thoroughly enjoyable though, one of those ones where whilst you're listening, you're like, "Yeah, I like this", you just might be hard pressed to stop on it whilst flicking through your iPod.

Even so, I hope you get the message.

7.6/10