Constellations

These two singles represent a further shift from even the boundary-pushing material heard on 2007's Necrogeister. "Bicycle Tropics" sounds like a Can tune pulled apart to its basic components and reworked into an IDM pop song. "Savage Orb," meanwhile, seemingly dispenses with all connection to conventional rock instrumentation. A chillingly...

By Tom Murphy

January 4, 2011

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These two singles represent a further shift from even the boundary-pushing material heard on 2007's Necrogeister. "Bicycle Tropics" sounds like a Can tune pulled apart to its basic components and reworked into an IDM pop song. "Savage Orb," meanwhile, seemingly dispenses with all connection to conventional rock instrumentation. A chillingly beautiful song, it could be the offspring of Ambient Works Vol. 2-era Aphex Twin, Kraftwerk and Autechre, replete with robotic vocals and off-center electronic percussion. If the horror-movie series The Cube were to be re-scored, this version of Constellations would make an ideal fit, with its mysterious and sometimes claustrophobic sound. Constellations was once a rock band. This release severs all ties with that era of the group's creative expression.

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Tom Murphy is a writer, visual artist and musician from Aurora, Colorado. He was a prolific music writer for Westword and a documenter of the Denver music scene.

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