Detritus - Thresholds

Now this is my first experience with Dave "Detritus" Dando-Moore, and from what information I can obtain, this artist is rather popular under this guise.

"Thresholds" is Daves fifth CD release, and on immediate glance, the song titles remind me of Jon DeRosa's breathtaking "Aarktica" project. Whereas DeRosa made his mark with cold and experimental ambience, Detritus take us to a more Experimental form of Electronica, citing such influences as Raison D'etre, God Speed! You Black Emperor, Portishead and more.

It doesn't take long after the CD starts for me to find myself facing a new kind of sound that I need to accustom myself with. "Day One" has the kind of Scratchy electronic Drum beats most commonly found in a hip-hop record, but this is Dance Music in a very loose sense, and the two do borrow from each other. The track sounds like an Urban Horror Score, complimented with nice 007 style overlaps. Nothing I thought I would ever, ever write about, but I do not dislike it per se, it's done to a degree of cleverness.

What discrepancies can "U(S)" offer? The song offers a similar vein of rhythm, except it slows down halfway through, and takes on a slow, almost Ambient Piano chorus, before the trip-hop drums return. Trip-Hop. Something I thought I would NEVER, EVER listen to.

Fortunately I'm not, but this small injection of its black, urban influence is frantically trying to escape my ears. What terrifies me the most is that I like it, but that's only due to the fact that it works so well in IDM.

Detritus also holds distant links to the EBM circle, and the related Industrial ethos. Although the sound on here is a million miles from the likes of Glis and Neuroticfish, previous Detritus songs have featured remixes from such prestigious artists as Cdatakill, and Autoclav 1.1.

Retrospectively, I simply do not have enough knowledge of this area of the scene to really be able to justify describing it. Think Shpongle or Aphex Twin in chill-out mode for a very rough idea of the feel of the album.

The Burning Question is do I like this release? Well the answer is yes, and no. No because I don't haven't broadened my Horizons enough to have heard enough similar artists to know if it's good or not. Yes because I like the overall feeling, the clever interplay, and the diversity and confidence that is shown. Dec 01 2006