R.I.P
by Actress

From RockyRaccoon TOP 100 COMMENTER 07/10/2013 01:29 | #80817 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Actress is the moniker under which DJ Darren Cunningham works under. This album, “R.I.P." is his first full-length studio album, previously he’s done some work with Adult Swim on Cartoon Network and also with Gorillaz front-man Damon Albarn, but now Cunningham has decided to work on his own. This album is a lot of things. It’s trance, it’s house, it’s minimalism, it’s everything and nothing. If that sounds confusing, listen to the album, then you’ll understand. This album is entirely instrumental and entirely electronic. It’s minimalism in that it’s not overtly complex, yet in that lack of complexity, there is great art. Music that will put you in a trance as you listen to it, waiting for the next sound to come cascading through your ears, whether it’s the sound of electronic water on “Holy Water" or whatever awesomeness is going on in the background of “Tree Of Knowledge", this album will relax you, but still keep your attention, for the most part. There are slow parts, parts that make you want to say “Come on Darren, let’s move past this" but overall the album is very good, especially if you’re a fan of this type of music (imagine Pretty Lights recording in a public library). Check it out.

From ButterThumbz TOP 100 COMMENTER 11/28/2012 14:44 | #56130 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

A throbbing fuzzy ambience that sounds like it's hissing out of a small crack in the end of the eighties.

There's a lot going on in these songs. Most track names directly reference John Milton's 'Paradise Lost' which Actress has said was an inspiration (if you're familiar with that book you'll probably realize that it also works as a loose soundtrack/score). It's not quite 'ambient', either... there's constant forward motion throughout this album and many songs have distinct rhythms which Actress mixes very cleverly. This is his masterpiece, a great record top to bottom.

From zdwyatt TOP 100 COMMENTER 10/23/2013 18:28 | #88986 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

This is essentially ambient, though not completely shapeless and abstract. It tends to stay fairly light (think Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works 85-92) but does occasionally drop into darker territory (think Oneohtrix Point Never's Replica). If that's what you are looking for, this will not disappoint.