If.Then.Else

Home listening for romantic existentialists, this album shares the same sweeping melancholy and reassuring melody combination you'll find on many experimental ambient recordings. Gentle, austere rhythms make way for sweet uplifting pleasantries. I'm loath to draw the comparison, but I believe the artist's record collection includes plenty of ambient-era Aphex Twin and Force Inc. minimalist LPs and probably more reggae than shoegazer twee. At any rate, it's a charming realisation of all these things and obviously quite lovingly produced. The press release notes that the auteur was recently sprung from a six-month marijuana possession sentence in California. Blissfully free, he returns home to reunite with his bong and synthesiser playthings. Upon repeat listening, you may feel like doing the same thing.