Larvae - Loss Leader

6.5/10

Loss Leader consists of two parts with several years in between composing and recording, but the sound of Larvae is etched in a monolith - concrete and defined as mathematics, yet organic and intelligent, soothing and at the same time uplifting, with enticing dramatic builds. Upon listening to the music, the references that could be heard range from epic instrumental post-rock bands to sampling legends, and brought in a fashion that has very few criticisms in terms of sheer "listenability."

Opening the proceedings is Larvae's more contemporary work, offering four pieces of dark and moody ambient entwined with the warmth of a Fender Rhodes, an awkwardly obscured melodica, and a drummer that sounds like he could just be Josh Davis himself laying down some loops. Although having a breathtakingly shaded atmosphere and a lazy rolling vibe, there's a distinctly upbeat quality to this first half of the presented feature. The combination of the bass that seems to be playing a stoner's lullaby, the drummer who is exploring trip-hop drumlines from over a decade ago, mathematically challenged drum-computers, and vibrant ambience all work together on the Turning Around EP chapter of this release.

"Attention everyone, this is an emergency broadcast. The unpleasant noise you're about to hear coming from your radio is not a mistake, please do not turn off your radio but turn up the volume on your receiver is high as it can go. So you can make the sounds we broadcast as loud as possible"

Although this would be the logical (both sonic and chronological) choice of an opening, the second chapter of the album, the Monster Music 2 EP foursome, starts with this sampled instruction. I urge you to comply anyway. The closing half of the album takes the listener back (as this is in fact also the extension of the 2003 Monster Music EP) with breaks and bass lines hailing from an age where trip-hop was digging its grave and dubstep was safely guarded in the womb of drum and bass. The protagonists of the last four tracks include clear rhythm patterns and self-destructing, almost industrial-sounding, beats only guided by a submerging synth on the low end of its chords - but always with that spine-tingling new layer on the right moment. These organic IDM tracks remind of obscure, smoke-filled chill-out rooms where those who seek more than fast crowd-pleasing thrills roam around and lose themselves in the music until dawn.

It's a shame that the good people of the Ad Noiseam label and Larvae opted for an environmentally-friendly release by cramming two EPs on a single non-decomposing disc. Don't get me wrong, it's not my fantasy to see humanity drown in its own filth, but if that's the reason to molest two sufficiently-structured pieces of enjoyable post-rock meets electronica, you didn't think it through. A simple brainstorm session could've ended with a more creatively appealing solution without giving the impression that there's a label cleaning stock or a void in artist activity to be filled. Loss Leader is, nevertheless, one to have if you're for introspective post-rock with a dash of IDM or if pre-dubstep breaks with a hint of droning guitars sounds appealing. It would've been an added value if the concept had matched the music of the release, but it was not to be.


written for and published by The Silent Ballet
stream the album @ Last.fm
Larvae website