Art Crime‘s A Constant Lack is out now as a limited edition cassette/digital download via Klammklang Tapes. Composed and produced in a bedroom studio in downtown Moscow, the 15-track effort is the artist’s first release for the Russian label. Though, previously, Art Crime has appeared on Klammklang’s podcast show over at radio.syg.ma delivering hour long mixes that show off his florid and atmospheric style.
The producer’s melodic, House-driven work is in evidence on releases like his 2018 EP “Memoirs of Naive” (PRIVATE PERSONS), as well as the 2015 EPs “Renessense” (Creme Organization) and “Obsession” (Phonica Records). However, A Constant Lack finds Art Crime exploring a more experimental approach, while still maintaining the trademark elements of his sound.
For the most part percussion takes a back seat throughout much of the new effort. Opening tracks like “All The Paths To Go Down,” “Skin Smell,” and “Aimless Lady Intense Afternoon,” set a languorous and ambient mood as looped shadows and washes of pink noise breeze thru the producer’s strange garden of sounds. There is an almost organic feel to much of Art Crime’s production and it is in evidence here, too, as you float thru these dreamy soundscapes.
By the time you reach “Loss Of Something,” the album’s atmospherics have coalesced into one of the effort’s standout tracks. A completely Lysergic mood captivates the ear as the producer folds glittering arabesques of melody and phasing vocal whispers into the drifting ambiance. The result is completely captivating, like watching reverberating ripples gently unfold in a shadowy bowl of water.
While much of A Constant Lack is without percussion, looped structures and skittering arpeggios often do provide rhythmic elements to these tracks. The cut “Idiosyncratic” subjects an arpeggiating, run-away loop of blissed pads to a filtered scouring, while “Change Is Gradual” slowly builds into a bubbling, almost rhythmic froth of skipping vocal pads. “Getting Attached,” though, breaks the mold with its’ inclusion of drums, as does the track that follows, “Becoming the Monster You Were Defeated By.” Though the later couples a daunting vocal track of a woman struggling to catch her breath with the narcotic thud of a bass drum, the former feels closer to Art Crime’s club-driven approach. Drums combine with opaque hints of melody as a joyfully kinetic mood seems locked in an erotic embrace.
A Constant Lack is currently still available as a limited edition cassette that comes complete with a 30×30 poster all packed into a black ziplock with aluminum foil inside. Issued only in a run of 30 copies, grab one while you still can!
