The final paradox is that, if listened
to back to back to back, all three of The Field's albums sound very
similar yet all have their own sense of flow and movement which makes
each unique. From Here We Go Sublime
set the standard and established the sound. It was and remains a very
special record for me, and is one of the few situations where I
deeply love an album but can't bring myself to write about it for
fear of defining what the magic is and thus losing it. Anyway, the
second album, Yesterday and Today,
is more of the same but goes to greater extremes in both rhythm and
texture. Looping State Of Mind,
meanwhile, partially tips its hat with its title. These are songs
which repeat incessantly like loops and certainly help to alter your
state of mind, yet they aren't as repetitive as they initially seem
and the blissed out/stoned atmosphere is undercut by a more heavily
rhythmic and earthy sound than you'll initially notice. The basslines
alone on the opening track will testify to that, and make a
surprisingly good foil to the dreamy washes of synthesizer which made
Sublime so unique. In
fact, Looping argues
well for turning The Field into a two or three member live unit, with
a drummer and bassist to groove along as The Field does his usual
magic.
All of
that said, Looping State Of Mind
isn't the evolutionary next step you might hope for. The Field is
still primarily mining the shimmering, minimalist ambient-techno he
patented with From Here We Go Sublime.
'It's Up There' could pass for a remix of 'Silent', though I do mean
that in the best way possible. Even in those moments where The Field
seems to be directly referencing himself, it's always through a gauzy
filter or battery of effects and loops to alter the entire dynamic of
a track. It helps that even the lengthy daydreams like 'Arpeggiated
Love' have heavier beats than From Here We Go Sublime.
This keeps your body tethered securely to the Earth even as your mind
floats away, a little trick The Field may have picked up from The
Orb, who also knew the value of mixing up persistent, deep rhythms
with spacey, stoned textures and loops.
The
Field already had legendary status based solely on From
Here We Go Sublime alone. With
Looping State Of Mind,
he has inarguably secured this position. Looping
doesn't have the sense of newness and special-ness of Sublime
and he really needs to try something new with the next one, but
sometimes consistency and modest changes are all you really need to
have a fruitful career and to produce top tier work.
5 Poorly Drawn Stars Out Of 5
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