Mist

Sam Goldberg and John Elliott are hardly household names, but in the American cassette tape underground, they are bonafide heroes. In a few short years, the former has built an impressive solo catalogue of forward-thinking synth explorations under his birth name and the Radio People moniker, while the latter has emerged as a true kosmische visionary with his Outer Space and Imaginary Softwoods projects, not to mention serving as one-third of acclaimed Kraut experimenters Emeralds. It makes for high expectations for their second official full-length as Mist, but rest easy, House delivers the goods and then some. From the driving, blissed-out crescendos of opener "Twin Lanes" to the creeped-out, sci-fi drones of closer "P.M.," it's clear that Goldberg and Elliott have painstakingly planned their album vision, with each of the double LP's tracks becoming a complex, layered piece of the grandiose puzzle. This means you can forget past improvisational tendencies; it's all about precise execution, which may be synthetic on the surface but is still very human at heart. Melodic, touching and innovative, House is a huge step forward for Mist, taking their emotive synthscapes to new cinematic heights. It's also their finest moment so far.