From Iceland — Apeshedder

Published July 28, 2015

Glitchy synths, ambient interludes, and dreamscape pop: that’s ‘Apeshedder’ in a nutshell. What that doesn’t tell us about, of course, is the shimmering flourishes with which, for example, “Harmala” gleefully ends. Or the funtime trippiness of the spacey, cushiony “Ootz.” Or the way that track’s beat crumbles and stumbles toward drum & bass rhythms. Or its juxtaposition of flying flute sounds and cymbals so distorted they sound like a robot sighing. It sounds like a great place to visit, the world of Apeshedder: a psychedelic, sometimes dance-y, sometimes reflective world where bleeps and blobs are made of wandering colours and wonderful collisions. There’s a hint of madness there, too, as the manic laughter and wobbly guitar interjections of “Transikh” illustrate. The blend of laidback soft marimba-ish melodicism and frenetic beats ought not to work, but they do. “Memento Mori” is a sort of oddball elegy for a deceased electric woodpecker, which is quite the trick when you think about it. The album’s happier and hipper than the likes of Squarepusher, but too demented to sit quietly at the table of ambient without pushing everyone else’s faces into their mashed potato.