Probably Gridlock's most sophisticated album, shows a great deal of maturity yet still contains the distinctiveness of their earlier more straight-forward industrial / rhythmic noise material. Perfectly merging harsh abrasive, indeed formless, rhythms with beautiful ambient soundscapes, this being their last album leans more toward IDM. But in a way IDM feels like an insult to such a mature album like this, just glowing of analog warthm, in difference of the digital clones, who just relish on cheap software, and are otherwise found in the genre. Do not let the word IDM scare you off this fantastic record, this is unlike any other IDM.
What I post here is both the 2xvinyl version and the CD version. The CD version was the one I fell in love with, later I've grown more fond of the vinyl one though. The differences aren't big. The track order is different. Some tracks are about 10-15 seconds longer on the vinyl, and the last ambient outro track is extended by about 5 minutes. The CD version has these interludes which are missing on the vinyls. I don't reckon either one is the "best" so to speak, the vinyl one feels tighter, while the CD has lower bass and clearer high end.
Vinyl V0 (will reupload later)
CD V0 part 1CD V0 part 2
Saw the premiere screening of this movie at Stockholm film festival, where they gave me the soundtrack as a gift. Thought I'd share it as an universal recommendation, not just music-wise. The soundtrack is ambient, sometimes venturing into darker moods, sometimes a little too cheesy for my taste, it's catchy though. Script/story-wise this movie is nothing fantastic. The main enjoyable factor in this movie is the visual atmosphere it creates through it's innovative 2-d animation, how it depicts the bleak dystopian not-so-far-future world. Check it out.
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