Dissociative Identity Quartet - Excursions

Released: July 28

Marking the debut release from this anonymous collective of musician's, Excursions is a rhythmically-driven album of noise organized into cohesive compositions. The focus on rhythm is readily apparent from the start with "As The Heart Beats," but don't be mistaken in thinking that these are accessible and easily approachable rhythms. Convoluted poly-rhythmic structures pervade each track with some being slightly more acute and tighter such as the 808 drum kit present on the short track "Offset," although the kit is constantly undermined by the bubbling and warbling halfway rhythmic in in itself synth line that controls the composition.  This is an interesting little trick that DIQ enjoys doing throughout the album - they will take something that can be sonically grasped and comprehended easily, then subvert it through noisy and abstract methods. Alternatively, they will dive headlong into the purest abstract textures possible and wrap a veneer of rhythm around it to confuse the brain. 

A prime example is the track "Afraid of the Water," with its beat relegated slightly into the background while the main draw of the composition is a slightly awkwardly looped vocal clip from an old film that fills the sound space with film noise that demands the listener's attention. But the closing track, "The Wind Rises" throws an even more random element into the overall runtime with a heavily break-beat influenced rhythm and twisted, squelching 303 synth lines that approach the line of being over bearing but then return to moderation. The album is a rather interesting approach that defies easy classification, instead opting to push thing in multiple directions and creating a varied listen from start to finish.