Dyad

Using a syncopated motorik beat as a baseline, Dyad makes the kind of electronic music with a seeming leg in '90s house that could well fill the synth-pop album that Aphex Twin never made. "Hyper Cube" is reminiscent of the more playful work of IDM artists like Boards of Canada or Plaid; in contrast, "Database" has that rich foreground atmosphere sparkling with motes of tone that you're more likely to hear in Giorgio Moroder's later original work. In fact, much of this album feels like what you'd get if Kraftwerk would have made commercials and had done something more artistically fulfilling on the side, with songs driven by a will to dance rather than power. This is a perfect example of retro-futurist dance music fused with experimental electronic adventurousness.