Minotaur Shock - Muesli

I first heard this track a few months back, lying on the floor after a heavy jam session with the band. It was after dark and the lights were off, with just a green lava lamp glowing in the corner and the monitors at high volume. I recommend you find as similar a setting as possible to experience this song fully. It's artists like Minotaur Shock that really make full use of the vast potential for creativity and diversity provided by electronic music technology. This one-man act from Bristol has created some incredibly rich and varied music that contains sounds both familiar and completely unique, playing with rhythm, harmony and melody in ways that are often unsettling and captivating at the same time.

Something like that

Minotaur Shock - Muesli (listen/download after the jump)

At the start, the track sounds like some sort of minimalist neoclassical composition as two clarinets dance around each other in a sequential, rhythmic pulse, as if driven by a beat that isn't there. You can actually feel the sharp soundwaves hitting your eardrums if you play it loud enough. The subtle addition of what sounds like a marimba contributes to the eerie harmony, until a deep, dark bass suddenly engulfs everything. The climax is yet to come, however. The bass is gone as abruptly as it appeared, leaving only the marimba to keep the same steady pulse introduced by the clarinets. Then, out of nowhere, with no buildup, no warning, nothing...BAM! But I'm not going to spoil the surprise - take a listen.

I love songs that have the ability to create an image in my mind without using words. This song sounds to me like it's coming from the end of a long, dark corridor in an abandoned building. As you walk towards it, you begin to hear more elements joining in, enticing you to come closer despite the sense of unease they make you feel. As you near the end, everything falls silent, and then, suddenly, the music jumps out at you! Is it friend or foe? You decide.

If you dig, get your hands on Maritime (4AD) for starters. More of the same, but different.