Ross Lafond: The Throes of Time and Memory

If sounds could punch, this new album would knock you on your ass. Ross Lafond has just release his latest album and not only is it my favorite release in his career but it’s quickly becoming one of my favorite IDM albums of all time.

“Ross Lafond is a producer from Boston, MA. His songs are experiments, sometimes concentrating on matters of the heart, sometimes on creating thoughts in one’s mind. He intensely blends the cerebral nature of electronica with heart-swelling melodies to make something truly interesting and unique.” – last.fm profile

-Pay what you want on Bandcamp-

This 10 track epic (11 if you download) runs the gambit from glitchy-grooves to soul crushing tones. The twisting drones in tracks like “Confabulation”and “Old Ground, New Ground” will wrench out your eardrums into an exhausted daze, while other tracks drop a beat you wont quite be able to wrap your head around. Each piece builds a wall of orchestral sound pulling from a toolbox that’s crammed with chants, strings, scratches, organs, fuzzy hits, bubbling bass lines and swelling synths . “Soldier 3” builds a throbbing pulse of samples that will yank at your heart-rate. The 4th track “Fractals and Marshmallows” may be a bit too wacky for some- but if anything it acts as a relief before you get stacked with more weight.

Weight… More weight. This stuff is so dense it will hold you down and force engagement, yet it will bring so much energy to the table you’ll come back again and again. Lafond has somehow managed to walk the line between demanding concentration from the listener and still changing things quick enough to keep you up on your toes. Previous albums have teetered in either direction but this one seems to be the right balance between sweet and sour. Although it’s perhaps a bit too dark from most days.

Tags: beats, boston, drones, idm, synth