On their latest for Rephlex, the loyal Brothers D'arcangelo synthesize praiseworthy tracks bubbling with such nostalgic tension that, much to my amazement and delight, I want to care about IDM all over again. While everyone else seems preoccupied with that old tired is-it-AFX-or-not debate over The Tuss' latest releases for the label, they should be giving it up for these guys instead.
For obvious reasons, I had essentially written off this style of music completely and moved on to sounds less stubbornly stationary. Yet I was willing to give D'arcangelo's new album a shot based on the strength of their back catalog, underrated though it may be. Like any underdog worth rooting for, the duo of Fabrizio and Marco D'Arcangelo has consistently remained in favor with a dedicated group of enthusiasts, though like many such acts in the post-Artificial Intelligence set the act never reached the levels of scenester popularity of those oft-cited names I wont bother repeating here. I'm far more interested in what these Italian stallions are doing these days than being suckered into another manufactured viral marketing scampaign of pondering who's behind the latest Rephlex or Warp pseudonym. As Eksel clearly evinces, D'arcangelo has no need for such blatant unit-shifting gimmickry as has been employed in the cases of braindancers like Astrobotnia, Chris Clark, Global Goon, and, most recently, The Tuss.
Anyone even casually familiar with D'arcangelo knows what to expect from the project. Alive with frenetic and stuttering breakbeats and romantically resonant Detroit flirtations, Eksel gouges lavishness and beauty from the familiar well-mined caverns of "intelligent" electronic music. From the gurgling mechanical undertones of "Ternat" to the adorned sonic streams of the subdued "Elix," the album steers clear of technical, Autechrean anal mania and instead basks in the quaint luminescence of glorious melody. Teeming with pensiveness and bliss, the emotive electro-pop gem "A Grey Sunday" smacks of a new wave influence and near-fetishism that so many listeners have already picked up on before. Smashing, bristly snares and a gelatinous bassline combine on the rubbery funk of "The Asker," while "Nadine" swaggers and sweats with its sultry yet subtly robotic eroticism.
The highlight of this set, "H13," arouses mushy memories of a time when drippy ambience and trippy beats went hand in hand. If chillout rooms were still abundant today, this soul-gazing track could go on infinite loop for hours without overstaying its welcome. That ever-present mood, so palpable that it can not only be absorbed but also nearly embraced, makes Eksel such a heavenly, indispensable record meant to be consumed in either glacial darkness or radiant sunlight. D'arcangelo has made music to make us feel again, to get lost inside ourselves without fear of debt or death, and for that we should be thankful.
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