Elevate Difference

At Home and Unaffected

At Home and Unaffected starts off deceptively poppy. "Whose Side Are You On?" could be heard on any Top 40 radio station in the country, if it would only get rid of those glitchy noises. From the beginning of "At Home Part One," however, the listener gets an idea of what he or she is really in for – an Intellegent Dance Music album with surprising vocals and samples. This album is a mixture of pure pop music and the noisy style popularized by artists like Aphex Twin and Autechre. While most of the tracks don’t have a hook, or any recognizable musical structure at all, for that matter, the listener is drawn in by the pure emotion visible in the music. The album’s best track, "…And Unaffected," is even pretty danceable, which many IDM songs, despite the genre’s name, are not. This album is a triumph of genre-melding, and makes something new altogether: a genre that is sure to inspire artists to come.

Written by: Dana Reinoos, December 23rd 2006
Tags: IDM