Music can be challenging if we dare to step outside our comfort zone. Alex Botten’s ‘FAKE BEATS’ project is free to download now. Preconceptions should be left to one side before you read any further.
Magnetic North Pole. Thee Moths. Future Library podcast. That’s barely scratching the surface of Alex Botten’s creative output. His latest project is A SMALL GLASS GHOST.
Prior to writing this piece I’d only listened to one track which was suitably abstract, challenging and anything but predictable. Listening to the rest puts me in mind of 8 and 16-bit video games if the audio was super minimal with a hint of menace. Beats 4 and 5 are standout moments that get the balance between intrigue and WTF? just right. Artificial intelligence sounds like Beat 8 at two minutes in.
If it’s melody you’re after then you’re better off starting with Alex’s folk song Universe Prayer over on Spotify. Fake Beats is described as,
mechanic, motorik, electro-beat, sample-food, fake techno, inkjet.
Which I tend to just call glitchcore. Think of each track as a brief experiment of loops and samples. On the occasions where you might be momentarily thinking, “this is just utter nonsense” another inspired sample pops up. And if you find yourself wanting to remix any of it then surely that’s mission accomplished?
In Posterface might be a detour but Fake Beats is a uncompromising journey through audio beats and strange samples. In the words of comedian Stewart Lee, “the sat nav is off… let’s go off road!”
LISTEN TO FAKE BEATS AND DOWNLOAD IT FOR FREE
VISIT THE FACEBOOK PAGE FOR A SMALL GLASS GHOST
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