By the time I reached “playful,” track 3 on Escapist Foreplay, the new reel spinner by Evan A. James, I became
convinced that James is in fact a handful of mischievous sprites instead of a
single person, flitting about inside computer programs, their activities
resulting in sonic cohesion. Why? Because they’re magic, you clod, and magic
makes stuff happen out of thin air! It coalesces unrelated phenomena into
perceivable patterns in ways that can only make you go, “WTF, dude?!?” I submit
that Evan A. James, a collection of imaginary creatures imbued with great
power, has outdone itself with this tape, and although it has revealed its true
identity to us (Canadian producer?! Bah!) and therefore stripped away some of
its mystery, I’m still able to distance myself from this madness and learn to
love the content.
The content is the key, as it becomes clear Escapist Foreplay is a collection of sixteen short tracks designed
to elevate and confound in equal measure, unveiling its weird cohesion as it
progresses. The shifts in style and tone are blissful, and although there are
hints of vaporwave to be found – this is an Adhesive Sounds joint after all – it’s
impossible to truly pin this release down. It reminds me of some of the
adventurous sound design releases on Orange Milk Records, and the Evan spirits
should maybe shoot Seth Graham an email, if they’re capable of holding a
smartphone. (They’re magic, of course they can!)
If you want to try to wrangle the overarching stylings that the James
Gang (OK, maybe that’s enough) produces here, you have to start with the idea
of a film soundtrack (and there’s even a track, the closer “filmic bullshit,”
that does this) – you can go through a lot of moods in one sitting with visual
accompaniment, but it’s way harder to do when you’re appealing to only one
sense. Then, scrutinize the detail of the composition and you get a sort of
modern electronic classical, one which, again, Seth Graham would certainly
relate to. Step back one more time to revel in the sheer magnitude of the
stylistic cross-sections: you get dark folk (“trace”), classical string quartet
(“drape,” “tunnel”), jazz (“rejoice,” “weather”), synthesizer wash
(“demonwish”), and whatever “seeking” is – let’s call it the meeting between
hardvapour, actual hardcore, and Queen. I don’t know, it’s great though.
The combinative powers James displays foreshadow a hopefully lengthy
discography filled with excitement and wonder. It’s an established fact that
he’s already got a couple of winners under his belt (his
self-titled debut and Falling
Out with Number 1), so it should be no surprise when he grows into
fantastic creations like Escapist
Foreplay. I’m ready for the next tape already – are you?
--Ryan Masteller
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