Tunes 2011-2019 in Bloomington, MN

Burial
's first two full-lengths, particularly the 2007 masterpiece
Untrue
, cast an enormous shadow over the music of the 2010s, as countless producers tried to emulate the rain-soaked atmospheres and heavy emotions of the elusive South Londoner's tracks. While he didn't release a proper third album during the decade (nor did he express any intention of doing so), he pushed his sound further with a series of sporadically issued singles and EPs, and remained one of the most vital artists of the era.
Tunes 2011-2019
gathers two-and-a-half hours' worth of his material from this time period, excluding 2017's club-friendly "Rodent," collaborations with the likes of
Four Tet
and
Massive Attack
, a few scattered compilation cuts, and all of his non-
Hyperdub
releases. Instead of organizing the tracks chronologically, he groups them by mood, creating an alternate timeline through this portion of his catalog. Releases like the revelatory
Rival Dealer
Kindred
are perfectly formed mini-suites in their own right, but this collection places them as pieces of a larger narrative. The set materializes out of the ether with wispy ambient sketches "State Forest" and "Beachfires," before moving on to more pulsating tracks like the quietly devastating "Young Death." After that, it progresses to mind-bending epics like the action-packed "Rival Dealer" and life-affirming "Come Down to Us," filled with sharp twists and turns, as well as enormous amounts of vinyl static and storm clouds. Even comparatively straightforward tunes like "Claustro" and "Loner" are cloaked in shadows and filled with a much greater sense of fear and restlessness than the garage and house tracks they take inspiration from. All of these pieces have aged incredibly well since they originally appeared, and in some cases they're actually more engaging in retrospect -- they're so packed with details that even obsessive fans might have missed something before. ~ Paul Simpson