Andreilien: Antikythera EP Review
Published: March 1, 2013
By: Alex Silva
One of the best parts about being a musician, apart from making your own music, is developing your own image as an artist. The music industry is an ocean of talent, full of big fish and small fish, fish that fly above the surface and fish that lurk in the depths below. Essentially, you can be anyone or anything you want and make music for just about any ear, even just your own. Ziggy Stardust is an alien rockstar from space, Daft Punk regained consciousness as robots after an accidental studio explosion, Captain Murphy is a mysterious potty-mouthed cartoon villain and Andreilien is a “cosmically mind probed, upgraded and reconfigured” glitch music producer.
Formerly known as HEYOKA, the San Francisco-based abductee was captured by extra terrestrial beings from the planet Marklar, revamped to their liking and returned to our home planet as Andreilien. Having seen the stars, his new studio project brought new cosmic visions to his previously recognized bass-heavy style. Following nearly half a decade of album releases and international touring under his previous alias, he released his first album, Dub Iteration, as Andreilien in the summer of 2012. This year he is back with the release of his latest five-track EP, Antikythera, which hosts a much more downtempo approach to his sound.
The first track, “Tafoni,” is like a dark and uncharted territory at first. The term “Tafoni” signifies a cluster of rock cavities, naturally formed by the weathering of time. Much like any growing process, talfoni can grow from nothing to just a few inches wide and as deep as several meters. Eventually, some talfoni can grow huge and become what is known as a cave. This EP is kind of like a talfone (singular). Beginning with a small trickle of sound, “Talfoni” chews away at the sedimentary reality blocking it from exploring the depths beyond. This first track is the catalyst for the sonic erosion that is to become the entire EP.
As you descend further into the EP, his cryptic distortions echo through the void of this sonic cave as they scratch away at its walls bouncing back as newer, more complex sounds. These new sounds culminate to form each of the last four songs as they become saturated with more energy track by track. Picture it being like an evolutionary ripple effect. As each song echoes out and fills the void with sound waves, they become trapped and fuse together to create the next track. By the time you reach the final track, “Echoplextacy,” you’re engulfed in his vast collage of digital hums and synthesized gargles, with a thin lifeline attached to your waist serving as your only tie back to the surface. From subtle head nods to sporadic hip jives and lateral spine twists, you’ll feel it all through your Antikythera journey.
Food for thought: “Antikythera” is a Greek mechanism, named after the ancient Greek island and used to calculate astronomical positions. Could this EP be Andreilien’s attempt to relocate the planet Marklar via his sonic visions? Or maybe it’s his audio visualization of what it would feel like to explore the remains of the Antikythera shipwreck, which dates back to the 4th century BC and lies roughly 60 meters deep.
Andreilien has several upcoming tour dates, including an appearance at Envision Festival in Costa Rica this weekend, as well as a SXSW showcase this month (alongside NiT GriT, Russ Liquid, Gladkill, Sugarpill and Stephan Jacobs), two shows with Eskmo in Chicago and Austin, and scheduled performances at this year’s Wakarusa and Manifest 2013. Antikythera will be available on Muti Music March 5th.
One of the best parts about being a musician, apart from making your own music, is developing your own image as an artist. The music industry is an ocean of talent, full of big fish and small fish, fish that fly above the surface and fish that lurk in the depths below. Essentially, you can be anyone or anything you want and make music for just about any ear, even just your own. Ziggy Stardust is an alien rockstar from space, Daft Punk regained consciousness as robots after an accidental studio explosion, Captain Murphy is a mysterious potty-mouthed cartoon villain and Andreilien is a “cosmically mind probed, upgraded and reconfigured” glitch music producer.
Formerly known as HEYOKA, the San Francisco-based abductee was captured by extra terrestrial beings from the planet Marklar, revamped to their liking and returned to our home planet as Andreilien. Having seen the stars, his new studio project brought new cosmic visions to his previously recognized bass-heavy style. Following nearly half a decade of album releases and international touring under his previous alias, he released his first album, Dub Iteration, as Andreilien in the summer of 2012. This year he is back with the release of his latest five-track EP, Antikythera, which hosts a much more downtempo approach to his sound.
The first track, “Tafoni,” is like a dark and uncharted territory at first. The term “Tafoni” signifies a cluster of rock cavities, naturally formed by the weathering of time. Much like any growing process, talfoni can grow from nothing to just a few inches wide and as deep as several meters. Eventually, some talfoni can grow huge and become what is known as a cave. This EP is kind of like a talfone (singular). Beginning with a small trickle of sound, “Talfoni” chews away at the sedimentary reality blocking it from exploring the depths beyond. This first track is the catalyst for the sonic erosion that is to become the entire EP.
As you descend further into the EP, his cryptic distortions echo through the void of this sonic cave as they scratch away at its walls bouncing back as newer, more complex sounds. These new sounds culminate to form each of the last four songs as they become saturated with more energy track by track. Picture it being like an evolutionary ripple effect. As each song echoes out and fills the void with sound waves, they become trapped and fuse together to create the next track. By the time you reach the final track, “Echoplextacy,” you’re engulfed in his vast collage of digital hums and synthesized gargles, with a thin lifeline attached to your waist serving as your only tie back to the surface. From subtle head nods to sporadic hip jives and lateral spine twists, you’ll feel it all through your Antikythera journey.
Food for thought: “Antikythera” is a Greek mechanism, named after the ancient Greek island and used to calculate astronomical positions. Could this EP be Andreilien’s attempt to relocate the planet Marklar via his sonic visions? Or maybe it’s his audio visualization of what it would feel like to explore the remains of the Antikythera shipwreck, which dates back to the 4th century BC and lies roughly 60 meters deep.
Andreilien has several upcoming tour dates, including an appearance at Envision Festival in Costa Rica this weekend, as well as a SXSW showcase this month (alongside NiT GriT, Russ Liquid, Gladkill, Sugarpill and Stephan Jacobs), two shows with Eskmo in Chicago and Austin, and scheduled performances at this year’s Wakarusa and Manifest 2013. Antikythera will be available on Muti Music March 5th.
