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Apr 23, 2018 Makeness By Lee Adcock

Dance music thrives on artifice. Many respectable computer jockeys don’t live in the sweaty ecstasy of their creations; many fans never experience that proper alignment of groove to feet in the club. But the illusions hold sway, nevertheless. So when Kyle Molleson engineers his own wobbly, squelchy fusion of electronic landscapes as Makeness, who’s to say he can’t build his own version of Detroit in Leeds?

Indeed, the charm of Loud Patterns stems from its distinct facsimile of place. While the laser-honed throb of Plastikman strings across the album like a backbone (especially “Gold Star” and “Rough Moss”), rubbery textures and screechy feedback flesh out a more idiosyncratic portrait. Sometimes, like on the Tangerine Dream-ish float of “The Bass Rock,” these analog gadgets shift the nocturnal ambiance completely to realms outside the club. More often than not, though, Molleson’s gadgets function like a potter’s tools at the wheel, shaping supple contours out of familiar beats-you can almost see the clay spin on “Our Embrace,” a wonky disco tune with Oriental reliefs on the rim.

If these bizarre pots seem too unstable to dance with, don’t fret. This writer can assure you that “Stepping Out of Sync” and the title track definitely entice curious clubbers to the floor, so long as they don’t mind the dim lighting. Only “Motorcycle Idling” fails to fascinate; maybe Molleson prides himself in this sort of synesthetic exercise, but the album should’ve ended on the more prismatic workout of “14 Drops.” Our protagonist needs to flex his songwriting chops instead; rote lines about love and loss (“Who Am I to Follow Love?” and “Day Old Death,” respectfully) render Makeness as a fractal hologram, superficially psychedelic for the headphones-bound fan. But that’s all anyone needs from dance music, right? (www.makeness.bandcamp.com)

Author rating: 7.5/10