Alex Barnett / Fielded split LP

After finishing last month's post about Stacian's awesome Pul EP, I realized another great record was being neglected. The Alex Barnett/ Fielded split LP came out earlier this year, courtesy of Nihilist records. I had the honor of premastering the record before they were cut to vinyl and was pretty juiced to do it. More rad synth music! Alex's instrumental tracks seek to influence the listener to experience life as series of uncertain intrigues. I think its a bit more involved than the John Carpenter references prescribed by some critics, but I do understand what they're getting at. Here, Alex's expositions depict a cold world that could be a reference to the The Thing (a Carpenter film), or a nod to the album Iceland by Richard Pinhaus. Tracks such as Antarctica are come across as more human than either because Barnet uses minimal sequencing. Most the synth lines are played by hand, ensuring sterility does not plague the recording process.

Similar to Barnett's fascination with the unnatural Lindsay Powell (Fielded), pursues a romance with the  supernatural in her side of the record. Simultaneously listless and yearning, the characters in Fielded's music toil under the spell of their own dark fantasies. Still there is a quiet strength throughout and it is reflected in the vocals. Fielded is no slouch with harmonies. Her multi tracked vocals sound like a cell of spirits fettered to a corporeal body. She also has un uncanny knack for chord progressions, her accompaniments suit the vocals perfectly. "The Mark, My Good Master" is a standout example of what I am trying to communicate. Take a listen!
Hopefully I did the music justice, both sides of the record are excellent.