Altered Zones

The constrictions inherent to most instruments-- their range, possible timbres, volume, whatever you can think of-- seem less intrusive to a synthesizer. There's something instinctive about toying with raw sound that allows one to channel the natural or supernatural despite the instrument's man-made origins and futuristic implications. VT-based synth gurus Greg Davis and NNA Tapes head Toby Aronson-- aka Harmonizer-- put that paradox into practice with their latest EP for Daniel Lopatin and Joel Ford's Software imprint, World Complete. It's a collection of primordial imagery via modern aesthetics, and whether it's exploring a pastoral nook in the clouds ("Cloud Bank") or recreating a spiritual, ritualistic sacrifice ("Derdeba"), its mix of primal percussion and absorptive ambience is sure to entrance. This is a work as complete as the super-saturated, conjoined continents of the album cover, and not one to be missed. --Matt Sullivan, Altered Zones

You can scoop World Complete from Software