ANDREW HAINES “Hidden in the Night” (Jollies)

 

There’s been talk of robots. Andrew Haines once went by the moniker Midnight Circuitry, and we all nodded knowingly and looked at each other with confirmation in our eyes. Because despite the fact that Andrew Haines was now going by “Andrew Haines,” it was evident that “Andrew Haines” was simply an AI construct, a series of nodes and wires and microprocessors behind a human façade. And who’s even to say that’s the truth? There’s no picture of “Andrew Haines” on this new Jollies tape, Hidden in the Night, so there may not even be a body to go with the personality. And aren’t the initials “AH” awfully close to “AI”? I mean, they’re one letter off, and the one letter off is adjacent to the incriminating one! I’m thinking this is all lightly veiled code.
 
But why the secrecy, why the deception? Was Midnight Circuitry too obvious an identity? My guess is yes, and the change was made to “Andrew Haines” to human it up a little. But the second you press play on Hidden in the Night, the entire charade crumbles in a heap of wiring. See, “Haines” can’t help but ratchet his “mind” open and allow the cracked, post-techno innards to spill out. Restless futuristic polyrhythms collide with dark neon nocturnal moods, everything automated and syncopated and perfectly adjusted for maximum efficiency. Synthetic blurts of color and melody pixelate at the point of reception, the waveforms accurately conveying the information from one machine to the next. Is it weird that a human like me can get so invested in such a singular display of dazzling software manipulation?
 
Have we even proven that I’m a human myself?
 
This is yet another feather in Jollies’ ever-filling cap – I’m not even sure they’ve released something that hasn’t wrestled me to the ground and pinned me into deliriously enjoying it. That’s not to say I have to be held down and forced to listen to something – they don’t actually need to do that to get me on their side.
 
https://ae2-sounds.bandcamp.com/
 
https://jollies.bandcamp.com/
 
--Ryan