A System Of Objects CD

Oliver Ho seems to be mellowing with age. Once a purveyor of blistering techno, he's now focusing his creative energy on the warm electronica, snappy beats and wide-eyed melodies of his Raudive alias. This second full-length under that pseudonym (the first, Chamber Music, appeared in 2010) is arguably his strongest collection to date. It effortlessly flits between tumbling, bleep heavy wonk-tronica, fuzzy electro, bleary-eyed leftfield deep house (see the alien funk of "African Wig") and well-rounded efforts at downtempo experimentalism. Notably, it also includes a number of tracks peppered with discordant punk-funk sax, which offers Ho opportunities to show off his knowledge of the New York post-punk scene. "Ruins" and, in particular, "Furniture", sound like Konk brought kicking and screaming into the 21st century.