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LP
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DIGI 044LP
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Kansas City's Brandon Knocke has quietly been making a name for himself as a producer and composer the last few years. Beyond his solo work as Discoverer, he fronts the enigmatic Parts Of Speech as well as the newly-formed, incredibly promising duo, Svamps, with Kianna Alarid Cameron of Tilly & The Wall. Knocke is a glutton when it comes to his electronic concoctions, but on Tunnels, we hear him at his most bare. Discover's second full-length, Tunnels, could be considered a concept album of sorts. What's immediately apparent about the album is the attention to detail in the composition. From the opening chords of "Circular Motherboard" through the laid-back catharsis of "Personal Clone," Knocke is prepared to take listeners on a cinematic ride through white, sterile hallways and feminized technology. The low-end thump of standout "Blood Lab" drags you through antiseptic, holographic imagery designed to distract from the disconnect between reality and an imaginary utopia. "Lesbian Software" embraces the desolation of a technologically-driven existence with heavily-vocoded vocals paired exquisitely with emotionally-charged synth leads. Diametrically opposed but combined in absolute harmony, Knocke is absolutely on top of his game here. It is music that infects you like a nano-virus, simultaneously destroying what you know but rebuilding it as something better and more pure. As the album comes to a close, Discoverer has come to grips with this controlled and stilted future that hovers in the distant future. But in that acceptance is a realization that our human essence cannot be entirely vanquished. In the playful bass lines of "Materialize" and triumphant assertion of "Personal Clone" that close out the album, Knocke lets you know that even in the starkest future is the chance to further evolve.
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