This is dark. Something I haven’t heard in electronic music in ages. Last time I heard something this dark, it was from Source Direct, the drum and bass dark duo from the UK. Icarus’ Six Soviet Misfits isn’t drum and bass per se, but its use of skittering drum patterns over eerie effects brings to mind that scene’s darker moments. Six Soviet Misfits is a sprawling double disc affair that challenges the listener to keep pace. Crackling textures are added to “Ul-6” for a new take on glitch-y sounds. Free Jazz-ish muted horns pervade “Despair,” screaming Ornette Coleman with each note. Disc two is more of the same. Staccato beats pummel the stereo for nearly ten minutes on “Nine Fresian.” Once the listener recovers, the downright placid “Kipperkun Scratch” washes your ears with pleasant Eno-esque ambience and finishes the album with more drum and bass inspired dark beats. The length of Six Soviet Misfits tends to drag the album down several times during the course of both discs but not enough to dampen the experience. One of the more interesting electronic releases in some time, Icarus seems poised to capture listeners with its darker take on the genre.
1. Ul-6
2. Borichean Pintak
3. Deutsche Oper
4. Benevolent Incubator
5. Despair
6. Nine Fresian
7. Dolphin Lyric
8. Untranslatable
9. Untranslatable
10. Untranslatable
More about: Icarus
