DODE - Music for Critters

 Released: January 17

A recent release from the Oigovisiones Label based in Spain, Music for Critters is an album filled with haunting and fragmented pieces. The naming convention of tracks is odd in itself as it seems to just be a sequential series of vertical lines occasionally broken up by a short series of tildes. This odd naming gives little clue as to the mood and atmosphere of each track but it doesn't seem to matter all that much as the album is better when listened to as a cohesive whole without paying attention to track changes. 

Piano features heavily throughout the album with slight variations in its tone from track to track. Regardless of the track, the piano maintains a slightly uncomfortable downtuned quality. Not exactly out of tune, but there is something about it that seems just slightly off that I couldn't quite figure out. Track number three seems to embody this atmosphere quite succinctly as the off-kilter keys play a haunting arpeggio processed through unusual effects. However, for both tracks that are named by a series of tilde marks, the piano seems to be take a backseat in the composition and odd collections of field recorded samples take center stage including water droplets, birds, and room ambiance. The variations in compositional decision's give the album a fractured feeling that still comes together to create a cohesive semi-narrative experience.  Recommend for dark room listening.