Recue: All the Wrong Places
Rednetic

Look beyond the deceptively generic-sounding IDM veneer of Recue's All The Wrong Places and you'll find an individuating heart. The debut Rednetic outing proves Finnish electronic knob-twiddler Riku Annala is no slouch when it comes to crafting emotive electronica. Elements of funk, ambient, and of course IDM dominate, and there's enough wide-screen atmosphere, melodic sparkle, and clanking machine beats to keep the neighbourhood electronic devotee more than satisfied.

Exemplifying the richness of Recue's style, “Gbliss” is characterized by symphonic sweep and swooning rhythms that alternate between head-nod and swing, while the Afro-house-meets-Kraftwerk strut of “Badhairday” impresses too. Driven by a low-slung funk pulse, “Kalmacty” exposes the rougher side of Annala's music while album standout “Kasvoton” shows he's equally adept at tackling dub-techno. Buoyed by classic bass thrust, the tune scales an imaginary mountain as it swells in stature and intensity throughout its five-minute run. At forty-two minutes, the release is also commendably direct, with the half-hour of Recue originals fleshed out with two remixes, a grooving take on “Savant” by Bad Loop and electro-funk rendering of “Himanka” by Eero Johannes. All The Wrong Places doesn't chart new paths, but is polished nonetheless.

July 2008