In the 24 years he's been making music, Mark Pritchard has done much to obscure his musical persona, releasing albums under various pseudonyms (including Troubleman, N.Y. Connection and Harmonic 313) while forming countless collaborative side projects with artists like Tim Middleton, Danny Breaks and Wiley. So it was somewhat of a surprise when it was announced that his latest LP, Under the Sun, would contain some of his most personal material to date.
His first solo work in five years, the 16 tracks that make up Under the Sun feel like an overview of Pritchard's career, as the serial collaborator brings in more guests (Thom Yorke, Beans) while crafting an ambient sound that harkens back to his early work with his much beloved group, Global Communication.
As much of the album consists of drone-y, low-end hums, there's actually a free-flowing folk and psychedelic slant to Under the Sun, demonstrated on "Give It Your Choir" (featuring Bibio), "You Wash My Soul" (featuring Linda Perhacs) and the closing title track, but Pritchard ornaments these works with robotic and left-field sounds to craft a piece of work comes off both alien and comforting.
On Under the Sun, Pritchard has managed to create a highly listenable and well-sequenced piece of art out of a collection of ostensibly illogical ideas.
(Warp)His first solo work in five years, the 16 tracks that make up Under the Sun feel like an overview of Pritchard's career, as the serial collaborator brings in more guests (Thom Yorke, Beans) while crafting an ambient sound that harkens back to his early work with his much beloved group, Global Communication.
As much of the album consists of drone-y, low-end hums, there's actually a free-flowing folk and psychedelic slant to Under the Sun, demonstrated on "Give It Your Choir" (featuring Bibio), "You Wash My Soul" (featuring Linda Perhacs) and the closing title track, but Pritchard ornaments these works with robotic and left-field sounds to craft a piece of work comes off both alien and comforting.
On Under the Sun, Pritchard has managed to create a highly listenable and well-sequenced piece of art out of a collection of ostensibly illogical ideas.
