MORE EAZE
“articulate ridge #16” C36
(Personal Archives)




Marcus Maurice seems to be everywhere these days, and I’ve had the privilege of catching up on a couple of his recent releases as More Eaze, first with “firesid3 ch@t r00m” on Orange Milk, then with his split on Astral Spirits with A. F. Jones and Steve Flato. There’s so much more out there though. So much. Including “articulate ridge #16” on match-made-in-heaven label Personal Archives. Why is this such a divine conflation of ideology? Could it be the mutual embrace of sonic exploration? A singlemindedness of independent vision? A vast love of the everlasting weird? Yes, yes, and double yes, or “yup,” if that is indeed what “the #h1tz of 2dai” is belching in its MIDI glory as I’m typing this sentence right now. It’s good to question the basic building blocks of what you’re listening to – how else are you going to imprint your own self onto it? Belch-barf yeps aside, “articulate ridge #16” continues the unlikely marriage of More Eaze’s focus on the overt and the avant-garde, the in-your-faceness of the harsh synthetic composition a key unsubtle component to the intricacy of the work. Because More Eaze is doing his thing all up in the electronic spectrum, there’s a sense of familiarity in that melodies certainly seep through, as do rhythmic elements, setting his tracks up as suites of “songs” in a sense, though “Banger: Impossible” may well be the title of his next record (do it, for some stupid reason, do it!). But they’re so much more, so deeply enjoyed that taking in any of this in bite-size pop fragments is fully impracticable. I say this with a smirk creeping across my face as “the #h1tz of 2dai” utilizes an ACTUAL pop hit at the end of it to bring it to a close. I’m weighing whether or not to spoil the surprise, but who cares, you’ll listen to the whole thing anyway.

Hahahahaha Blink-182.

Anyhoo, “albuquerque necktie” has to qualify for some kind of award handed out to awesome album titles, and it lurches as violently as its title would suggest, ending in a liquid puddle of post-necktie viscera. Perhaps it’s simply the logical precursor to “L8 capitalist ax13ty 2k17,” the idea of that title a psychological “albuquerque necktie” (if not a literal one). The sickly processional plays like a decaying parade float as it simultaneously gets wet and melts from electrical currents coursing through it. Life doesn’t have to be that way, not if you’re not part of the festivities in the first place. Don’t be part of those sickening festivities. Follow More Eaze instead, down the “articulate ridge #16” until your gears seize and your pistons quit firing. Something like that, if you’re following.

More Eaze
Personal Archives

--Ryan Masteller