SILENT EARTHLING

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"TTT is at the cutting edge of contemporary music. Watch your fingers!" - Brian Eno. That was on the sticker to my copy of this album. I had no idea Eno was even aware of this UK trio. This is their second album and an improvement over the debut. They are one of the bands who can be classified both as 'post-rock' and 'math rock'. The debut was more 'math' but this one is more 'post'. With the exception of a tiny bit of wordless vocals, these guys are instrumental. They play a form of electronic rock which contains elements of post, math, techno, symph prog and fusion. A little bit of guitar but mostly keyboards; there is a real drunkit but also programmed drumming and/or electronic drums as well. All the basslines are done on synth.

The title track starts the album off with ringing, bell-like sounds. Then some syncopated, almost random sounding drumming. I love the electric piano melodies in this track. The pace picks up and the music sounds like a combination of symph prog and techno before it goes into laid-back 'post-rock' territory. "Strebek" starts out with an almost punk-like riff on synth. That riff becomes more spacey and 'math' sounding. Lots of electronic percussion in this track. "Kraken" rocks hard! Such a menacing riff on synth backed by call-and-response on more synths. Gets into some guitar/synth unison playing while the drumming gets more chaotic and complex.

"Blimp" begins with that kind of tropical island vibe that some post/math bands get into. Hard to describe but the music is very 'happy' and uplifting. Gets more 'math rock' sounding as it goes along. Nice guitar and/or synth soloing. "Engrams" has the official video for the album. Not my fave but it is a highlight. Generally feels like a cross between symph prog and techno. The track morphs and changes, eventually getting to what one could call 'math rock' or 'post-rock'. "Tekkers" is based around an awesome groove but repeated listens reveal a lot of compositional complexity. This also has some of the best melodies on the album. "Hemisphere" is very electronic sounding; even the drumming is programmed or played on electronic drums. Electronic as it is, the music is very melodic and symphonic.

"Rainbow Road" starts out synth-punk, Then gets synth-fusion. The music proceeds to get more varied and dynamic. "Elsewhere" may be the most stereotypical 'prog' sounding track. Lots of percussion here (mainly cymbals but they could be programmed on synth). Great closer to a great album. This is my Album Of The Year so far. Highly recommended to fans of Battles, Tortoise and Zombi. I will give this a 4.5 but round it down to 4 stars. I might think this is a masterpiece in five years but not quite yet.