Double LP version; out of print on CD for now. Second full length project by Richard Devine . "A short time ago, film director Kyle Cooper called Richard Devine . Somehow or other, Richard's small appearance on a small record (on a small record label) made it's way from a small section in a small store to a big desk somewhere in Hollywood. Since then, his enormity has been very obvious to a very big number of us. Recently his Lipswitch mini-LP was released by Schematic and Warp. Those of us who heard it had a penetrating auditory experience witnessing a true landmark in modern music. Although it is a rather small album, Devine's sound is huge. Lipswitch was intended to be a full-length album, but was trimmed down to the essential rhythmic core. What was left over was the heart of Aleamapper . From there Devine assembled the rest of the frame, and the result is rather like that of a movie score. Those who complain that electronic musicians from Devine's school lack musicality will find rest here. Devine's new compounds of sound are open to explore with the ear, and his subliminal music freely accompanies and frequently saturates the remaining spaces. Of the 64 minutes and 16 songs, only a short part follows any sort of cadence. Overall, there is a rhythm, but it is an overall rhythm; a varying pace throughout the album. Some parts idle where some accelerate to screaming crescendos. Some songs suggest locomotion while others wind down into nothingness. Tension and release string these songs together very much like a soundtrack. You can almost see the widescreen images attune with the mood and movement of each composition. The tracks feel more like scenes than songs. The whole listening experience is emotionally captivating in a way that is very unlike music, but rather like a movie. The earliest movies were silent visual films. Maybe the most modern films might be audible blind ones? This is Aleamapper directed by Richard Devine .
