It’s good to see that LAN Formatique is still kicking around. I first heard their music when they had a delightful track on Zaftig Research’s holiday compilation ("The Glitch That Stole XMAS"). LAN Fromatique is the work of Gavin Lees, who hails from Seattle and describes the music as "Sad songs for existential machines." The label describes this album thus: "Ever the musical chameleon, this material is a far cry from the glitchy electronica and gentle ambience for which LAN Formatique is best known. Its harshness and aggression will be a shock to fans of his previous work, but the anger is intentional - directed at the current state of his home country of the UK, and current residence of the USA, both divided by populist nationalism and made hostile to anyone outside a narrowly-defined norm. Prepare yourself for a trip into the dark recesses of identity, where you will emerge changed and enlightened, ready to cry: Folklore, not fascism!" Sounds interesting, so let’s dive in.

The liner notes ask: "Who does the land belong to? Who belongs in the land? Who has the right to decide?" Drawing on Edward Elgar’s "Dream of Gerontius," LAN Formatique seeks to answer these questions. "Low Born Clods of Brute Earth" kicks it off with spoken word (I suspect that all of the spoken word is drawn from Elgar, as he is credited in the disc), which then gives way to an interesting mix of noise and a pretty melody. The dissonance between the slowly moving, lush synth and piano composition and the static and subdued noise is what keeps it interesting. Really well done. "Like the English Language, You Have Foreign Parents" takes a different approach. There is a haunting piano line run through some reverb that is submerged in noise and snippets of cut up voices. The effect is dreamlike, but not the kind where you wake refreshed. Rather, this is a lot of troubled sleep when your brain is trying to process a particularly unpleasant day. "Dark, True, Impure, and Dissonant" opens with a bit of spoken word about "the true enemies of England" before kicking into a plodding sawtooth synth line and heavy beat. It’s dirgy and sludgy and not at all like "Low Born Clods of Brute Earth." "Where Fathers Fail, They Look to Their Sons to Achieve" also begins with a spoken word intro about duality of being. This then kicks into another track with a mix of lovely piano and noise. Duality indeed.

This was fantastic and well worth picking up. The juxtaposition of noise and beautiful composition is put together skillfully and the spoken word intros actually add something to the tracks rather than distract. Highly recommended. This disc weighs in at around 20 minutes.