Briefly: burial and four tet

Currently listening to the mysterious release from Burial and Four Tet – the "Moth/Wolf Cub" split. This release is of the good news-bad news variety: the good – Burial and Four Tet complement each other like Oreos and milk, and while these two artists delve in the digital realm of music making, there is something organic – and very compelling – about this tag-team release. The bad news is the collab is limited to two songs -- AND TOO SHORT.

I first heard of the "Moth/Wolf Cub" release a few weeks ago, and the buzz drove me to (legally) download his 2008 EP Ringer, which is very good and certainly worth your time. Ringer is 31 minutes and 29 seconds of perfectly composed electronic music. My first exposure to Four Tet was his remix of Thom Yorke's "Atoms for Peace," which, quite honestly, I found, and still do find, unremarkable. For me, Four Tet is hit and miss; some of his work strikes me profoundly, while some of his other work is just too inaccessible. The Ringer EP displays Four Tet's musical musings magnificently. Check it out.

Burial is… well, Burial simply is. Either you dig his sound or you don't. Burial dwells in the watery gutter of the genre known as dubstep. And if dubstep doesn't accommodate your musical taste, then you will probably dismiss Burial's sound, because Burial is responsible for pushing the dubstep sound further and into the indie mainline. If you are in the mood, Burial's digital blueprints provide the perfect soundtrack. His music is dark, but the sound doesn't drown in that darkness; the syncopated rhythms keep pushing, pulsating each track like a midnight train. And when it comes to selecting rainy-day music, Burial is at the top of the list.

xx