LXXXVIII

イギリスが産んだアヴァンギャルドな鬼才、ACTRESSが最新アルバムをリリース!

UK新世代を代表するシンガー、サンファとのコラボレーションを経て、電子音楽の過激な実験主義者Darren CunninghamことACTRESSがニュー・アルバム『LXXXVIII』を〈NINJA TUNE〉からリリース!彼が25年の歳月をかけ、ダンスフロアやレイヴ会場、フェスティバルやコンサートホールを想定し、聴く者の頭脳をショートさせ、魂を燃え立たせるような音のフュージョンを磨き上げ、完成した全13曲を収録!本作の創造において基本的なプロセスとなったのは、芸術的な行使というよりはむしろ、チェスなどに必要とされる「ゲーム理論」や「戦略的思考」だったと言う。先行シングル「Push Power ( a 1 )」は、複雑なチェス・ゲームの最初の一手として機能するもので、本作の土台を築くトラックとなった。考え抜かれた一手ごとに、ゲームは時間をかけて成長し、発展していく。また、最後の一手を告げる「Game Over ( e 1 )」も最近公開され、最初と最後の一手を露わにしたACTRESS。この頭脳ゲームは一体どのように展開されていくのか?

Darren Cunningham didnt make himself a stranger during the three years that passed between Karma & Desire and LXXXVIII, his seventh and eighth albums as Actress. There was a round of unexpected remixes and one-off collaborations, the dizzying Dummy Corporation EP, and assorted noncommercial projects. Most surprising was the producers infiltration of the mainstream. AZD interstitial "Falling Rizlas" was looped as an extended overture for Beyonces Renaissance tour performances, compelling one TikToker to wonder, "Why is this giving me so much excitement, peace and anxiety all at the same time pls." LXXXVIII, despite containing sounds immediately recognizable to those familiar with Cunninghams past, is yet another source of mystification. Its deconstructions and creative alterations of underground club music forms, combined with crystalline ambient compositions -- all pieced together like a Rammellzee panoply -- cause more sensations of wonderment, comfort, and unease. Any moment resembling a retraced step in his strange universe is engrossing still. "Azd Rain" wouldnt have been out of place on AZD and plays out like a variation on R.I.P. track "The Caves of Paradise," its bristling polyrhythms conjuring flashbacks that give way to the deep four-four bass pressure of the aptly titled "Memory Haze." "Its me" rubs the right way by recurving a pleading 1992 slow jam in a mode similar to that of Ghettoville standout "Rap." As on AZD, Cunningham ensures the addition of fresh ideas by mixing it up with a handful of collaborations; three tracks credit new songwriting associates. On "M2 (f 8)," a balladic piano line -- presumably played by co-composer Laura Groves -- emerges from a thick fog before being accompanied by a skeletal machine beat and hollowed-out synthetic cowbell evoking a street soul Loose Ends tribute. The title of the scrambled "Game Over (e 1)" somewhat elucidates the albums chess theme, though the unintelligible if emotive voice of Adam Markiewicz (one-half of Actress remix clients Leya) suggests loss greater than a competitive one. Thats the closest an Actress track has hewed toward dubstep, South London-style or otherwise. HTRKs Jonnine Standish is in phantasmal form on the most inscrutable track of all, "Push Power (a 1)," mournfully intoning phrases like "I could cry" and "I pretend" in the thick of clonking rhythms, heavy atmospheres, and a titular invitation that takes on a foreboding quality as it repeats. Some of Cunninghams decisions are as arbitrary as ever. Finale "Pluto," the most hypnotic and straightforward track, cuts out well before three minutes, as if the album was released in a perversely designed format with a 57-minute, 18-second capacity. ~ Andy Kellman

電子音楽界における過激な実験主義者が3年ぶりの7作目をリリース。先行カットの"Push Power(A 1)"や"Game Over(E 1)"などの曲名にあるチェスの手が表している通り、作品は時間をかけて考え抜かれ、ロジカルに展開していくのですが、そうした難しいことは抜きにして聴いても、トラックごとにくるくる表情が変わるので、延々と無限ループしちゃいます。
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