"The new age / synth-ambient scene that took off led by Oneohtrix Point Never, Emeralds and Stellar OM Source. Since then, countless follower-style records have been churned out, and there's no denying things have gotten a bit tiresome and the excitement has faded. But since the start of 2011, these three artists have been carving out fresh new territory in synth music. Daniel Lopatin (aka Oneohtrix Point Never) teamed up with Joel Ford, renaming GAMES to Ford & Lopatin, and stepped into '80s electro-pop; Emeralds member John Elliott launched Spectrum Spools within Editions Mego and pushed a minimal, quasi-dance-music direction; and Stellar OM Source went all in on machine beats, leaning toward Detroit techno. This new album from The Away Team follows suit, taking a sharp turn away from the beautiful minimal synth-ambient / drone approach of previous releases toward a dreamy, tribal aesthetic where the future and the ancient resonate together. The influence of 'Arabian Nights,' which he was reading during the recording, seems to run deep. Exotic-mood ethnic percussion, field recordings, vintage Italian library music, thick deep bass drums, dubby bass lines and jazzy chords, plus incantatory melodies reminiscent of Theo Parrish—an ambitious work pursuing truly original electronic music!
Highly recommended for fans of the outsider dance music coming out on labels like Modern Love, Mordant Music and Planet Mu!"