784 Burial - Burial (2006)

 784 Burial - Burial (2006)

Studio Album - Dubstep



About the Act:

Burial is an Electronic recording artist from South London. He has made two studio albums.


About the Album:

This was Burial's first album. Some critics absolutely loved it. I don't think it sold particularly well.


My History with this Album:

None.


Review:

Music is hard to define, especially when you get to the sonic edges. This album is there, at the sonic edges. It is probably music, based on the fact that it has looped drums/rhythms. There are the faintest hints of notes as well, and actually some of it could be thought of as being in a key, but generally the word "soundscape" works better than the word "musical" to describe this.

Let's dive into some description. The loops are kind of glitchy, actually while they repeat regularly, the percussive noises are not always on where you would expect beats to be. The result stutters and limps, and would be difficult to dance to, unless you have one leg shorter than the other. I'm sure this is deliberate.

The accompanying backing is minimal, and has more noise elements that note elements really, with atmospheric hums and other noises. There is a lot of reverb which gives the whole thing a feeling of space. Finally, there are samples of speech, snatches at times, and at other times long sections, taken from films in the main I believe.

The end result is like electronica, but broken, noise and atmosphere, sometimes deeply melancholy, and at other times quite disturbing and menacing.

I like the inventiveness, I like the breaking of boundaries. The atmospheres are well-done. I kind of like the brokenness of it, and the sense of almost-ambience. I kind of two-thirds like it. What is the other third? It's a bit laboured, it's quite repetitive without being as engaging as it could be. Also, there's a bit of me that thinks "what was he thinking?" Unlike some of the albums I have reviewed, I can see why some critics love it - it's kind of out at the edges, and in its own way says something about electronic music, by breaking conventional ideas. I just wish it could have been a bit more of an engaging listening experience.

If you like electronica, especially stuff at the edges, if you like dark ambient, if you like Aphex Twin and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, then this might be for you. If you want your music to have notes, and harmony, and actually be in time with itself, then can I point you in the other direction, somewhere towards Dolly Parton, say.

I said two-thirds, so let's go with that for a score.

6.666/10


Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/18f6aWSeCaKMZxg75d0t2g

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjIuADMrDKIZ2oWjWJGcOnRI56c0ajTXP

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burial_(Burial_album)



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