Artifact

They say this CD was recorded between 2001 and 2004 "at home and on tour, in bedrooms, hotels, moving vehicles, parking garages...." But despite its name, this isn't an album of sketches, lost tracks, and other detritus. Instead, Artifact is a haunting document of ambient designs, trippy lounge, and cinematic atmospheres that occupy STS9's first new CD in five years. The "home" recordings are actually verité vignettes providing connecting tissue for songs like "Better Day," a haunting lament with breathy guest vocals from Audio Angel (Rashida Clendening), and the space-age lounge music of "Somesing." A band that plays as much as it programs, STS9's compositions have a natural flow and integrity, as if they were grown as much as computed. "Tokyo" is a hypnotic jam of slide guitar and electronic atmospheres lashed together on a kinetic groove sliced by dream sequence logic. Imagine the Grateful Dead going glitch on Miles Davis's Bitches Brew and you have a good sense of STS9's sound and why they've played events from the alternative festival Coachella to jam-band gatherings like Bonaroo. Artifact doesn't look back, but forward to a horizon still a few moments in the future. --John Diliberto

Customer Review: Something for everybody, but maybe not the whole album...

In Brief: More approachable than other STS9. Yet, this album is not for most people. For the rest, highly recommended.



I purchased Artifact after hearing the song "Tokyo" on Pandora. I was stunned when I heard this song. I am familiar with STS9 from their album "Live at Home." After hearing that album, I was of the opinion that STS9 were experts at creating strings of unique sounds and calling them songs. "Tokyo" is an exhilarating song. It is full of deep, grimy bass that (amazingly) seems to speak to you at points. "Tokyo" proves that STS9 knows how to write a melody. Unfortunately, they don't always choose to do so.

I'm an advocate of always listening to an album from beginning to end in its entirety, but unless you are an experienced IDM/Glitch/Ambient Electronica advocate, I would recommend that you listen to the following songs and call it a day:

(1) Tokyo

(2) Peoples

(3) Peoples pt.II

And for the more adventurous: (4) Somesing

Make sure you turn up the bass.



For the rest of you, I recommend this album. The less melodic tracks (few in number) seem to wander, but it is part of the album's journey. And the album truly is a journey. The first track even boasts that the album is a musical story.

The songs are often journeys, too. Many of the songs have two clear halves. And the second half is usually better, so don't give up on a song if the first minute bores you.



This album is a gem. The album loses a star because there are a few songs that I regularly skip.

Customer Review: Stunning

Regardless of their stature as a live act, this is a wonderful recording. Strong, interesting songs, beautifully played and produced, make this album an easy 5 stars.
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