Isolée - We Are Monster (2005)

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"its hard to imagine a better electronic record coming out in the next six months; it will likely be one of 2005's best albums of any genre." The Wire, June 2005 issue. This massively anticipated album features the first new material in over 5 years from Playhouse lynchpin Isolée (also known as Raijko Muller), 'We Are Monster' sees him travelling even further down the synth lined path hinted at by 1999's 'Beau Mot Plage'. Assembled from a comprehensive spectrum of beats, strings, guitars and electronic detritus, Muller's skill is to overlay what is essentially a micro-house template then refine the sound so it's no longer easily classifiable. An almost perfect synopsis of the Isolée sound can be found on 'Schrapnell', where Muller allows a clutch of strings (that hover between house and high drama) to slowly assimilate a squelchy rhythm and guitar riff , before the whole thing opens up at the end and bursts forth like an Eos enhanced dawn. Similarly, 'Madchen Mit Hase' takes a bag of bleeps, clotted cream electronics and cheese grater vocals then sticks them together in a propulsive fashion that keeps pulling through just as you expect it to sag. With the neon lit beats of 'Do Re Mi', the electroacoustic shakedown of 'Today' and the Tejada-heavy dubbytronica of 'Pillowtalk', Muller has sculpted an album that will keep the Playhouse heads more than happy whilst introducing a few new troops to the cause. Awesome."
via boomkat