The prospect of more God’s Wonderful Railway material, especially at this dark hour, is always a cause for celebration and this ten-track album does not disappoint.
This slightly mysterious artist has been around for a couple of years but has only come above the parapet again recently…
Somewhat more perky than the last release, there are shades of Squarepusher and Aphex Twin in these complex melanges of found sounds and techno beats…
Are there also live instruments in there too, maybe some bass, hard to say… but excellent, also redolent of techno overlord Blank Mass as well…
‘Ordinary Things’ is one of the best, a real banger which BM would very much like to hear live onstage, if the notion would take GWR…
‘Do Not Pass Goa’ has some resounding guitar samples but builds that into dance grooves in a way that few can do without sounding awkward or naff – the Chemicals can do it, and this is up to that standard…
‘Fablon Nights’ is more jerky techno with some great snare samples, but it then goes to a massive electronic wigout – good grief, this is what BM has been craving for in lockdown.
And ‘A Horse Called Bastard’ is an acoustic number – with some old samples inserted…lovely, and maybe more like the last release….until all hell breaks loose!
‘Watch with Mother’ is an ambient wee tune, but with dischord… ‘NSS’ comes on heavy, with some guitar and beats, my goodness this is all so great – dense and dirty, more like some of the Death in Vegas releases all those years ago…
After ‘Memories of Varta’, a shorter more melodic track (which ends up quite sinister, as is GWR’s wont) we are down to the last one – ‘Railtrack’ which over 8 or 9 minutes pummels the listener into submission with some weird techno which wheezes but then lifts us up into some kind of mutant haze… it is brutal but tuneful and feels like the kind of thing that Boards of Canada would be doing this year if they could be arsed!
This is an exceptional album, among the best BM has heard this shitty year so far, and BM commends GWR for spending the time doing this… awesome!