Denver, Colorado's
Thug Entrancer
(
Ryan McRyhew
) established his intriguing hybrid electro sound on 2014's excellent
Death After Life
, his debut full-length for
Daniel Lopatin
's
Software
label, but he goes further on his highly advanced follow-up. While
consisted of hypnotic excursions that occasionally headed toward the ten-minute mark,
Arcology
is much more focused and refined, packing more twists and turns and surprising elements into shorter track times. There's also much more of a sci-fi element to the album, from the cyborg cover artwork to track titles referencing virtual reality and exosomatic memory. Common to science fiction and video games, an arcology is a self-sufficient society contained within a single large, densely packed structure, with little to no influence from the outside world. While it's easy to trace some of
's influences, particularly Chicago-spawned dance music genres such as acid house and juke,
still seems to follow its own muses and doesn't fit into any easily definable categories. As with his previous album,
was largely improvised on analog synthesizer equipment, but the tracks are more detailed and there's a greater sense of urgency here.
McRyhew
is still a pro at weaving squiggly acid techno synth lines around snapping electro beats, but there's much more melodic development, and more subtle production touches. The propulsive rhythms and crystalline melodies of tracks such as "Ronin" seem to perfectly encapsulate the futuristic theme, sounding hi-tech and effortlessly cool. The album's ecstatic high point is "Tight Lean [Perispirit Mix]," which marries a racing juke rhythm with a slightly blue melody, expressing the excitement and frustration of facing an uncertain future. Busy and engrossing,
marks an exhilarating development in
's sound. ~ Paul Simpson