Thug Entrancer peels back the fabric on “known/unknown worlds” to glimpse an “imagined alien colony” on his new Arcology LP–out now via the Software label. The album title is taken from the architect/theorist Paolo Soleri, who coined the term to describe a harmonious interaction between living and natural space. Or, as the musician Ryan McRyhew explains, “The album title stems from the idea of a structure or object that is entirely self-sufficient and life-generating with little to no outside influence”.
Extending the sonic reach of his excellent 2014 LP Death After Life, McRyhew also tightens the focus of that album’s approach–improvised and inspired workouts on the TB-303 and TR-808–yielding increasingly intricate “acid house” compositions from the now classic instruments. While the musician cut his teeth at Denver’s Rhinoceropolis, a DIY art/live space galvanized around the more experimental side of electronic/dance music, he also spent important formative years in Chicago soaking in that cities rich tradition of free jazz, as well as more recent forms like house, juke and footwork. These “Chicago” elements still provide a strong underpinning to Thug Entrancer’s music, and Arcology continues in the direction established by DAL, even while expanding it’s focus to include increasingly rich detail.
Throughout the album’s 14 tracks the 303’s arpeggiating bass-lines, sometimes filtering and phasing with frenetic energy and strychnine grind, provide a sonic mainstay. In many ways it’s the perfect instrument to demonstrate McRyhew’s notion of an “object that is entirely self-sufficient and life-generating”, as it tirelessly churns out its looped patterning. While that stretches the metaphor a bit thin–all the tracks on Arcology were recorded live, improvised even–they are also driven by the musician’s intimate and tactile interaction with his instruments, turning dials on the gear to reveal teaming worlds of complexly resonating sound. The other constant throughout Arcology is the crisp and expressive detailing of Thug Entrancer’s claps and snares, often arranged with an ear for footwork’s hyper kinetic beat patterns. While the Chicago micro-genre fuels many a Southside Chicago dance party and has even been embraced by a label like Hyperdub in the UK, it still remains relatively unknown stateside. Syncopated and daedal, this rococo rhythmic style seems naturally at home in Thug Entrancer’s arsenal, adding intricate outgrowth to tracks like “Ghostless M.S“, “Terrain“, and “Tight Lean (Perispirit Mix)“.
While it’s true Ryan McRyhew left Chicago to return to his hometown of Denver several years back, the city has undoubtedly left a lasting impact on the DNA of his music. Arcology continues down the pathway set-up by his Software debut Death After Life but it finds the artist delving deeper into its possibilities. Much like Oneohtrix Point Never’s Daniel Lopatin, who curates the Software label, and who built his early career around a vintage Juno synthesizer, McRyhew’s commitment to the 303 and 808 is in no way restricting. Instead, much like the metaphor which animates Arcology conceptually, the artist’s commitment to his instruments have instead yielded aural worlds teaming with complex, nearly self-sufficient possibility.
