- Butane's Endless Forms comes amidst times when many strains of music continue to lean toward the house template; continue to burrow into the deep. No longer a resurgence, now rather de facto, this modus operandi is on the verge of becoming stale: we need a fresh perspective. Says Butane; "I get bored with the same places, the same tastes, the same sounds. My music evolves with me." Couple that with the inspiration he takes from Darwin, and Butane's obsession with change should set him in good stead to set off down an unspoiled path, hopefully to emerge somewhere different—somewhere interesting—at the other side. And that's what Endless Forms is—an investigation; a journey into the unknown.
And he's good to his word. Not only does Endless Forms evolve on a track to track basis, but on a more granular level as well: each tune twists and turns, ultimately sounding far displaced from its beginning. Sometimes the mutations are explicit, sometimes more subtle—either way, you can't help but get drawn in. Each track intimidates and, whether through non-stop grinding grooves or building, frenetic ticks—all have mischievous and dark undercurrents which take a little working out. This makes for more involved listening than your average release, but it's also true that the more you put in, the more you get out.
As an album from beginning to end, Endless Forms is not one which makes for the best rounded listening experience in the way that, for example, Burial's work does. Here, somehow, the disparate parts are better than the haphazard sum. But, like on Exercise One's latest album, that's not fatal because there's invention throughout and you're likely to come back to it from amongst the laissez-faire and largely unchallenging alternatives.
There are warped, pulsing sounds from bass music; loopy glitch of the sort Reboot might enjoy and unashamedly brash, bolshie and swaggering tech house, all twisted with Butane's take into something which almost breathes in its bristling effervescence and resistance to settle. Pushing on like this, searching out new atmospheres and soundscapes, it's as if Butane is playing—just seeing what he can do. As his inspiration Darwin would have it—it's the process of natural selection: Butane has come up with a more successful means to the enjoyable end than most, and so will prosper.
Tracklist 01. This Is Your Brain on Music
02. His Story
03. Nite Vision
04. Mutation
05. Transmit the Music in Me
06. Almost Finished
07. Idle
08. Adaptation
09. Inferno Jack