Akuratyde – Inviting Chaos [Microfunk]

Akuratyde returns to the mighty autonomic and ambient powerhouse, Microfunk, to deliver another piece of his personal journey. The quality I love most about this artist is the ability to craft emotional depth in his music; there is a clear narrative woven into and between each piece. Introspective, exuberant, consistent, expressive, and dedicated are all words I use to describe both him and his musical output. From the Microfunk bandcamp:

“…This album explored the beautiful disorder of parenthood and the emotional complexities of intentionally inviting chaos into your life.”

“…it re-frames his signature sound into something brighter and more unpredictable.”

I love these short insights as they can be a great starting point for listeners, and shed some light on Akuratyde’s album programming and artistic process. Dan manages operations and publishing for Modern Conveniences (his label), and still finds time to write, make visual art such as this album’s, be a dedicated father, and entertain my rambling questions and ideas! Huge respect to Dan, Modern Conveniences, Bop, and Microfunk. Lets break down some of this music:

Inviting Chaos begins with the title track, which on the surface is a frenetic break-core welcome into this album but in my listening I’ve heard more and more calm in this opener. I have this idea about the narrative of this track: the amorphous but undeniably beautiful pad could be seen as the miracle of life unfolding; the dry smack of the initial bit-crunched bass drum the reality of caring for a living thing. As the piece progresses you hear little swells of the beauty of the intro come back – reminders you’ve created something beautiful. By the end these two forces have fully united into a driving and grooving force, a full family of sounds working together to move through life.

Akuratyde explores rhythmic themes throughout this track that seem to trip over themselves endlessly, not quite ever resolving or landing. Even when the drums end there is little form left to grab onto. As a parent… I get this. You just are thrown in and get to figure it out on the fly. The way this track ebbs and flows reminds me of the constant external input inside a home with young kids, and the introspective learning that parents must do to evolve and grow alongside their children and partners.

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I think there is some magic in the way that Akuratyde composes his tunes, rhythmically. Although there are deep and rich atmospheric and blended elements, I think his pieces are a rich weave of rhythmic complexity. Mixing in impactful drums with lush atmospheric content can be disruptive and this artist manages to craft around the rhythmic elements.

In some other albums he begins the track list with something unique, “Past Lives” opens with a collaboration with Monika that bridges the gap between autonomic and liquid, “Face Down” opens with Resonate, both tracks that have some contrast to the rest. I love the awakening motif that this embodies in that it piques your interest right away, waiting to see what he does next and anticipating each repetition. This is just good programming as the exposition of every story has to hook the reader, and usually sets up the entire mood of the subsequent narrative.

The brand of Akuratyde remains strong and ever growing – in addition to autonomic music, he releases more dancefloor oriented music with Monika (a close friend), and ambient albums.

Reminiscent of some of his more broken beat DnB, the second track ‘Ripples’ seems to land as a pleasant hit of dopamine and sunshine that explores joy and nostalgia. A bouncy, synth-pop ride that’s driven by a romping bassline, this tune hits the stride and provides a beautiful high note to start the meat of the album. I love how the artist fits in a piece like this amongst such a vivid and generally meditative program – it’s like an exposition in a sonata in the fact that it offers a bit of information into the characters journey. Often orchestral pieces follow a strict form, this album following less form and more theme – theme being chaos. There’s so much going on in the folds of this music and as with most autonomic music it needs a few listens to fully appreciate. There’s such pleasure in letting music evolve in your ear. Check out ‘Ripples’

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As for the rest of the album, you’re just going to have to listen! Akuratyde is an artist with a monumental output and will be releasing albums such as this potentially in a trilogy form, as the “Head First” series was. His strength as an artist lies in his incredibly clean and delicate approach in the studio – nothing is without intent and space. Words to live by.

Purchase/Listen to Inviting Chaos here