Critiques CD: Demdike Stare | Tryptych

Imagine if Basic Channel took a trip hop to another planet leaving from Eno’s airport, where a DJ plays spooky noir jazz metal in the lounge. Richly atmospheric waves of sound wash over you, crash into you in an intricate symphony of noise. Tryptych ebbs and flows, with crescendos and peaks and narrative swells. The trilogy’s rife with static, electronic crackles and rhythms, and throbs like dark gristle with an underlying industrial pulse. Yet, at over two hours, and in tone and composition, it’s perhaps more like a classical album…that breaks out into techno, a reminder that Tryptych’s a soundtrack for this millennium.