Untrue

世界中から絶賛を浴びた2ndアルバム『Untrue』の2枚組ヴァイナルが再入荷!!

Spin (p.92) - 4.5 stars out of 5 -- "UNTRUE deepens and expands his emotional range....All rain-slicked bass flicker, disembodied voices, and electronic drift..." Uncut (p.87) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]exture, really, is the key here....UNTRUE forgoes meaty basslines and huge drops for a more holistic, complete approach to sound." The Wire (p.36) - Ranked #2 in The Wire's "Top Ten Records of the Year 2007" -- "On UNTRUE, Burial emerged even more ghostly than before....Underneath the gloom was a renewed sense of warmth and intimacy." The Wire (p.53) - "[With a] devastatingly effective sound palette, in which, over a constant industry of dubstep rhythms, clouds of synth billow with grainy, overwhelming toxicity, from the drains, the tenements, the skies." Q (Magazine) (p.108) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "UNTRUE lives in the present, its more complex moods showcasing the emotional range that marks Burial out as more than just another bloke with a computer."

Burial, the self-titled debut album by an anonymous dubstep producer from London, proved one of the more surprising success stories of 2006. It was voted Album of the Year by the influential experimental-electronic magazine The Wire and was fawned over by a long list of other media, from Mixmag to Pitchfork. Upon the release of Untrue, the second Burial album, the cycle of acclaim appeared likely to repeat itself. While Untrue isn't likely to win many, if any, Album of the Year honors (in the wake of the debut's acclaim, the novelty of Burial lessened considerably), the album's arguably even better than its predecessor. Untrue finds its anonymous producer streamlining the varied approach of his debut, resulting is a uniform collection of tracks that are subtly evolving variations of each other. Following an untitled, foreboding intro, Untrue kicks off with the simply melodic "Archangel" and culminates 45 minutes later with the majestic "Raver," a summary conclusion. There aren't any MC-featuring tracks such as "Spaceape" as there were on the debut, nor is there any hard-hitting tech-step a la "Southern Comfort"; instead, every track on Untrue seems cut of the same cloth, emphasizing ghostly vocal loops, shadowy ambient motifs, and the warped rhythmic signatures of 2-step. One of the key highlights is "Ghost Hardware," the closest the album comes to genuine dance music. It's followed by another standout, "Endorphin," an ambient interlude that shimmers for three minutes, entirely free of beats, before the sub-frequency bassline of "Etched Headplate," one of the album's most melodic and memorable songs, cuts through the stillness. Untrue is most evocative when listened to in sequence, for the moods and characteristics of each track evolve as the album progresses. Once "Raver" brings the proceedings to a close, though, it's the overall impression of the Untrue that stays with you, more so than any particular tracks. If you can appreciate the style of dubstep employed by Burial, it's easy to fall head over heels for Untrue, an album on which there are absolutely no mainstream-crossover concessions, no ego trips, and no willful stylistic variation -- an album where the music, a singular style of it, takes center stage with no distractions or sideshows, where there's never the urge to skip to the next track, because they're all part and parcel of the greater whole. ~ Jason Birchmeier

ダブ・ステップが本格的な台頭を見せた2006年、その快進撃の中核となった『Burial』の衝撃から1年……さらなる最深点に到達したセカンド・アルバムを引っ提げてブリアルが帰還! 〈暗黒ダブ〉とも称された前作のダークさは幾分か和らぎ、切り刻まれてアルバム全体に散りばめられた女性ヴォーカルが幻想的で美しい。過剰なエフェクトを排したリズムも、曲調に沿って優しく繰り返すばかりだ。トータルで1曲のような流れを持つ壮大な世界観に、まるで映画を観たような感動すら覚えるに違いない。彼が凡百のベーシック・チャンネル・フォロワーでも固有のジャンルに収まってしまう小物でもないことは、本作を聴けば誰の耳にもあきらかだろう。ブリアルは2作目にしてとんでもないものを作り上げてしまったのである。
bounce (C)田中 直樹