hrmnzr - Arts and Crafts

http://hrmnzr.bandcamp.com/album/arts-and-crafts


Hrmnzr for the most part has been releasing rather high quality music, "Arts And Crafts" is definitely a testament to his ability as a musician. Honestly, after seeing the second latest album on his bandcamp I was a bit reluctant based entirely on the offensive title and song names. Just as well, the songs on that album don't seem to have received the same amount of attention as his other albums. But that's just it, the rest of his albums are fantastic, and I'm more than positive that as soon as I finish here I'm going to download all of them. Hrmnzr is really a quite talented musician, and I look forward to hearing more work down the line.

The "Intro" seems to follow a more ambient mindset, subtly filling up the void as it fades in to the song. "Funky (Feat. Astro Kid)" is a great example of modern IDM. It's glitchy, it's fun, there are tons of rushes, and it just instilled a feeling of a song that had a large amount of time set on it. I loved it. "Belle Que Tiens Ma Vie" takes another left turn, leaving both IDM and ambient in the dust as it travels the more traditional route of a chorale. It's soft, it's relaxing, it kind of feels like I'm in a church, and in all reality is just pretty to listen to, I genuinely enjoyed just hearing it.

So it seems that hrmnzr is all about changing genres, as he goes into "Headache" which is a sort of hodgepodge of math, IDM, drum and bass (I am just all over that rush loop), and is layered as all get out. I just... I love it. That's two songs so far that I just love. "Distant Lights" takes us back to a more ambient style, it's rather repetitive, but in the best of ways. It's so droning while not being so much so that you fall asleep, it just keeps your little attention span calmed down. Also, there are few things I enjoy more than triangle waves with porta. mono turned off, giving that little pitch swell feel. For my last song specific review of this album, I give you "Melancholy". I can start by saying that this might be the best name for this song possible. Being of the few songs without a rushed drum loop it's sad enough, but put on top of that that the melody has that delay on top of it with the occasional discordant tone, while the bass line is haunting and dramatic, and you definitely have a melancholy song.

I have to say this album is fantastic. The change in genres assures that you'll never get bored listening to it, and with almost all of his other albums being just absolutely fantastic I don't know why you wouldn't get those as well. Per usual, I'll leave the rest of the album to your judgement.