Richard Devine classic or dud

Yowsa. I would say more than a little bit - not to its detriment, it's exploring similar ideas/sound spaces without being overly derivative. It's also more immediate, aside from the 12 minute opener.

He's always sounded like Autechre to a certain extent, just more digital and monotonous. Loved his early EPs back in the Schematic days, but since his debut LP onward I've been bored by him.

I will admit though, Sort\Lave is his best album yet, and has a really amazing tone and texture to it. The reintroduction of pads to his sound palette is very welcome, and the analog tone of the production (which makes sense given his move from digital to modular), is a huge improvement.

Autechre still manage to wring a lot more weird emotion and drama out of their algorithms.

However the podcast he did for RA recently was interesting, especially the parts about doing sound design for electric cars.

bleh

that was my initial reaction as well. the tracks sounded even more digital (than Ae) somehow, polished (like, airbrushed), but that's just the mix / mastering (or my perception of it), i guess. some of the more straightforward tracks have grown on me a bit. it's a bit cluttered, but much of the clutter is mixed towards the background. it still sounds like a weird, polished take on Ae music.. sounds are treated w/more bias, and everything is so even-tempered.

tracks 3 through 11 are worth a gander

Loved his early EPs back in the Schematic days, but since his debut LP onward I've been bored by him.

otm

remember being totally stunned by the density of the beat programming when these came out (and this was in the heyday of drill n bass)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-eV_Mo0UIM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y96XlNLDKUI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Kj11f8SUGs

the tracks sounded even more digital (than Ae) somehow

Definitely avoid all of his albums prior to this one then. Especially Lip Switch. One of the most trash debuts I've ever seen from an artist given the amazing work prior. He ended up doubling and tripling down on that style for a decade. On RISP he finally changed his sounds up but still largely sounds chaotic and uninteresting. This one he finally pulls back from constant, unrelenting ALL CAPS CHAOS to actually adding dynamics back into his beats and evolving more repetitive progressions again with a more diverse sonic palette. The results are closer to Autechre, but Ae do it way better. That said, I'm fairly enjoying this one, and hope he continues to exhibit restraint on his future releases.

does wobbly still post here?