CD: Rain Dog - Two Words

A quiet revolution has been underway over the last 10 or 15 years. As digital synthesis becomes more and more available and powerful, as does the ability to manipulate the sound of real wood-and-metal instruments inside a computer, so the boundaries between “electronic” and “organic” have been eroded to the point where they are now meaningless.

While some of the artists doing that have been those who parade their technological nous – the Autechres and Flying Lotuses of this world, as well as more academic experimenters – a lot of innovation in this area has been taking place in the less obviously radical worlds of folktronica and indie/dance. So acts like Tunng, Four Tet, James Blake and others, while perhaps being seen as a touch middlebrow by the electronic music establishment, have been instrumental in exploring that uncanny valley where the real and the virtual merge.

And it's in this valley where the Project Mooncircle label resides. Over recent albums they've put out hip hop with Japanese folk influence, dramatic electro-indie that rivals Coldplay for grand sweep, soulful post-dubstep, gentle folktronica and other hybrids – all united by a blurring of digital and acoustic, and by melody being at the centre. This album fits right into their oeuvre.

In the publicity material, Rain Dog describes his music as “like a nice pie – warm, hearty, and crusty” – and if that sounds a bit twee and safe, well in a sense this IS safe music. There is absolutely nothing to frighten the horses amongst the gentle clatters, clonks, hums, abstract vocal sounds and undulating bass tones. But to write it off as unsophisticated or gauche as a result would be a mistake: these 12 tracks are kind of miraculous in their ability to not just anaesthetise or relax but to create a luxurious, protected sensation. This is not only uncanny but luscious music.