Run Return: Animals Are Beautiful People
n5MD

Animals Are Beautiful People, the debut 7-inch vinyl single from Run Return (Tommy Fugelsang, Kevin Dineen, and Raj Ojha), features two fine samplings from the instrumental outfit's forthcoming album Metro North. Established in 1999 in Santa Cruz, California, the trio produces a loose, retro-future hybrid of experimental post-rock and spacey electronica that augments digital processing with the natural sounds of drums, vibes, guitars, and other instruments. The title song begins with industrial clatter before settling into a slow-motion, synth-washed lurch of dubbed-out, hazy calm, a minimal bass line the glue holding the piece together, while electronic glissandi flutter, swoop, and writhe over skuzzy, head-nodding beats and an undertow of dark bass burble in in “Mercury Retrograde.” Be forewarned: only 500 copies of the gleaming orange disc were pressed.

September 2005