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Canartic, "Bouncing Radar Beams Off the Moon"
The latest from Austin, Texas' Canartic is a collage of down-tempo dub, spacey electronics, processed guitar, and samples. Unfortunately the group doesn't do much innovation with these elements, instead making music which is all too ordinary.
Part of the problem is that the group uses the same basic blueprint for each song, with little variation. The tempo remains constant from track to track, the bass never quite hits an engaging groove like good dub should, and the guitar is more of an accent than a lead. With little of interest to latch on to, I found my mind wandering far more often than not. While song titles like "London 67" and "Syd's Psychedelic Adventure" raised my hopes for something wild and offbeat, the former is overly introspective and mellow while the latter relies too heavily on samples, is only loosely psychedelic and not adventurous at all. All but one of the eight songs are over five minutes in length, meandering all over the place but not going anywhere.
The album's mood is consistently relaxed but lethargic, inspiring little devotion. What little atmosphere it generates is mostly lifeless, and the production is dull and antiseptic. More than anything, it just didn’t take me anywhere I haven’t been before.
