Run_Return: Animals Are Beautiful People
n5MD

Animals Are Beautiful People, the debut 7-inch vinyl single from Run_Return (Tommy Fugelsang, Kevin Dineen, and Raj Ojha), features two fine samplings from the instrumental outfit's forthcoming album Metro North. Established in 1999 in Santa Cruz, California, the trio produces a loose, retro-future hybrid of experimental post-rock and spacey electronica that augments digital processing with the natural sounds of drums, vibes, guitars, and other instruments. The title song begins with industrial clatter before settling into a slow-motion, synth-washed lurch of dubbed-out, hazy calm, a minimal bass line the glue holding the piece together, while electronic glissandi flutter, swoop, and writhe over skuzzy, head-nodding beats and an undertow of dark bass burble in in “Mercury Retrograde.” Be forewarned: only 500 copies of the gleaming orange disc were pressed.

September 2005