‘Antwood’ is the alias of Tristan Douglas – a Canadian whose releases
so far have been on netlabels such as Cocobass and B.YRSLF Division,
initially under the name ‘Margaret Antwood’. These early recordings have
picked up interest from curious seekers of new music, with excitement
from Fact magazine and a mention in Vogue’s best music of 2015.
He’s now dropped the punning female first name and been picked up by
Planet Mu for his first proper full-length, ‘Virtuous.scr’. The music on
this album feels very modern, but doesn’t feel genre specific or even
created by a human at times. It has an obvious dark cartoonish cinematic
feel to it that hints at computer game music and anime soundtracks, but
it’s as if the tracks are semi-autonomous beings evolving as part of a
larger eco-system: the sounds are mechanical, things uncoil, whirr and
stretch, strafe and crack around melodic segments, synthesised forms
bouncing around the speakers, falling into melody and then out again,
full of colour and drama.
Perhaps in this context It makes sense that Tristan is a
microbiologist too – but also that the theme he was inspired by when
creating the album was centred around the development of an AI. A little
later in the process it started to crystalize into the idea of whether
or not an AI can have a set of ethics, and if not, how close can it get
to being like human intelligence? It comes through in the music as the
album becomes more melodic, almost sentimental at the end.
‘Virtuous.scr’ also references the darker corners of the Internet, as
reflected in its track titles.
Like all the best electronic music which isn’t entirely melodic, the
listener is able to put their imagination right at the centre of the
work and can rest assured that the album will reward their attention.
‘Virtuous.scr’ is full of rhythmic ideas, evocative, textural sound
design and also has an intriguing musical narrative – we’re sure that
willing listeners will enjoy the ride!
Tracklist:
1. a.l.i.c.i.a
2. Anthracite
3. Overlay Network
4. Lung
5. Interlude Part II
6. Sneakers
7. Spirit Fabric
8. Prototype HA
9. Realization
10. 65.222.202.53
11. Uncanny Valley
12. Yontoo How To Get Rid
Antwood: Bandcamp | Facebook | SoundCloud
Planet Mu: Bandcamp | Facebook | Official | SoundCloud | Twitter | YouTube