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Autoclav1.1
Love No Longer Lives Here

Tympanik Audio

Posted: Friday, October 03, 2008
By: Stefan Davey

Love No Longer Lives Here is Tony Young's third album to date, and his first for the strongly emerging Tympanik label. The first two albums, You Are My All and More and the critically acclaimed Visitor Attractions, noted for excellent production work and arrangements, where pure IDM/glitch affairs. Not this new record; this is whole new emotional monster. It's an evolution of the sound, breaking through and going beyond the genre barrier. It cranks up the intensity and emotional impact tenfold on the album's predecessors, with beautiful piano melodies and sweeping synth, violin, and cello sounds all mixed perfectly with intricate experimentation and booming tribal beats. The opening track, "Casually Losing Selected Memories" sets the themes of emotional intensity and turmoil for the album from the get-go. It features a delicate piano melody in the intro before the song enters familiar IDM/glitch territory that Autoclav1.1 is best known for and excels at producing. "All for You" takes the step of mixing organic instruments and electronic experimental beats and sounds even further with the addition of sweeping violin and cello melodies. "We Shatter Sometimes" is another example of that mix being perfected, and despite its melancholy title, it is quite upbeat in tone. But what makes this the standout track is the addition of an utterly heart-wrenching piano melody, which will send shivers down the spine! Tony is well known for his use of piano in his work, but he really has topped himself this time and has shown what a high level of songwriting he really is capable of, not just on that one song, but throughout the whole album. The mood switches to anger in "All Long Black Spirals," featuring a buzz saw guitar contributed by Jamie Blacker of new fellow label mates ESA, which transmits an angrier, edgier ambience than most of the songs on the album. That doesn't mean to say it sounds odd and out of place in the grand scheme. That angry and edgy tone is continued in "Hell is the Face of Love;" in this instance, the mood is created by a rumbling intense death metal baseline, courtesy of Dave Pybus of black metal outfit Cradle of Filth. A main facet of this album is just how perfectly throughout the organic and traditional instrumentation has been mixed in with the synthetic beats, loop, and sounds. They blend back and forth into the mix seamlessly, never once cancelling each other out or appearing to battle for space in the song. Anyone who is interested in electronic experimental music, Autoclav1.1's Love No Longer Lives Here is an absolute must!