Prequel Tapes - “Everything is Quite Now”
Reviewed by Chano

Deep, dark, yet still warm vibes throughout this album. Very interesting sounds and textures and could mix well with a variety of shows - experimental, eclectic, electronic, etc. They reference industrial techno and EBM music as strong influences and based on the tunes I’m going to dig deeper into those two genres.

FCCs: None!
Favorites: 5, 6, 7, 9
RIYL: Boards of Canada, Aphex Twin, other ambient industrial/techno (i’m not familiar with this genre but am very interested now), EBM

1. “Returning Systems” - 6:43 - Super intense, ominous synth bass, sub, and leads come in and splash color everywhere for first 2min. Synth keys come in at 3min and adds awesome coherence to the jam. Sounds like a helicopter or UFO landing in a movie scene. Very atmospheric and kind of sad/intense.
2. “This Hidden Place” - 6:59 - Very pretty atmospheric synths; bassline gives it a groove even though there are no drums in beginning. 80s vibe, kind of like the Stranger Things theme song for lack of better comparison. 2min in some kick/snare sounds come in briefly and then get sprinkled in throughout the last half of the song. Very dark contemplative vibes throughout.
3. “Everything Is Quite Note” - 7:31 - inviting synth blips invite us into some other dimension; almost 2min in, the snares and hi hats come in and give deep, slow, groove cavernous vibe
4. “Under” - 7:50 - starts off with intense synth stabs and vocal samples; cool spacey and blippy sounds come in 1:30 and continue, introducing next section; things get chaotic but stay feeling positive and uplifting; sort of like getting abducted by friendly aliens.
5. “Run into the Night” - 2:47 - track feels very moody very quickly; reminds me a lot of Boards of Canada type songs, but without drums. Panning clicky percussion sounds and warm ambient bass/leads. Very cool track.
6. “Clouds” - 4:36 - intense contemplative vibe; uncertain fuzzy synths buzz in while warmer softer sounds drone in background; crashing percussion pans gently in the mix; drums come smashing in at about 1:35 in and add a nice driving vibe without being overpowering. Cool vibe.
7. “Soon” - 5:56 - Tense hypnotic synth with percussion leads to nice kick drum activity in first half of song. Very song-y vibe, but still atmospheric and gentle. Very clean synths interact nicely with warmer/fuzzier tones toward last half of song.
8. “Night Noise Lullaby” - 6:58 - dramatic synth tones come in a sort of gently jarring way before giving way to lots of interesting buzzing sounds; some interesting static stuff too. This one is more ambient of center, while still (almost) holding on to a song like quality.
9. “Core (Red)” - 7:18 - dark groovy start; echoey snares; intense vibes - feels like a good show opener/closer. Lots of intense sounds coming in and then dropping out adding texture to the groove. Very cool track.