UK-based electronic producer Tony Young first introduced his Autoclav1.1 production alias back in 2005 with his ‘Indelible’ EP on Nein Records, and since then he’s continued to release a steady stream of material under the moniker on labels including Crunch Pod and Hive. ‘Where Once Were Exit Wounds’ represents his fourth Autoclav1.1 album in total, and second for Tympanik Audio since his acclaimed 2008 collection ‘Love No Longer Lives Here’. One of the things that’s most immediately apparent upon first listening to this album is its comparative ‘smoothness’ and accessibility– while many of Young’s labelmates favour distortion and crunching, noisy effects, the eleven tracks collected here lean far more towards elegant keyboard arrangements and lush, layered melancholic soundscapes, though there’s still certainly the odd bit of serrated feedback lurking amongst the undergrowth.
Indeed, tracks such as opener ‘When We Woke Up’ and ‘Do You Feel Disposable?’ typify the keyboard-driven aesthetic that’s often at work here, with the latter’s ascending piano motif particularly calling to mind Rob Dougan’s ‘Clubbed To Death’, shortly before things descend straight into one of this collection’s more outre industrial-rock flameouts. Elsewhere, ‘If Not Something, Anything’ sees looped live drum beats adding rhythmic weight to a dreamy background wash of lush synth pads and curiously U2-esque delayed-out jangling guitars, while the delicate ‘Falling Over Ghosts’ sees feathery plucked acoustic guitars providing a textural bed for wavering, soft-focus synths and treacherously stuttering downtempo beats as the entire track rises up into an optimistic crescendo amidst the swelling melodic tones. Ignore the gothy associations suggested by the sleeve art – in this instance, Young has created a lush and frequently melancholic after hours soundtrack that has far more in common with the likes of William Orbit, Delerium and the aforementioned Rob Dougan.
Chris Downton
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