Octogen - 2five0nine (Soma)

In choosing to listen to it after a particularly arduous day at work, I had unwittingly picked the best time possible for Bernardi to cast his spell. There�s an immediate warmth about the start of this record, with hypnotic electronic music that transports the listener away - undoubtedly a machine based high but with a warmth that would grace any Balearic club.

It all seems so simple on the surface, but Bernardi's secret lies in the carefully worked individual lines, put together in an overall texture of glassy clarity that means every precise line and drum beat can be heard in sharp focus. If this sounds over-clinical the reality is the opposite, for the string pads of tracks like Save Your Sailor and the inward, Beloved-like vocal of the starry CSide bring a human element.

Bernardi tends to think instrumentally however, and his sense of musical form leads to meticulous constructions such as ACIEOB, introducing each layer separately until the whole, glimpsed a couple of minutes in, brings forward a powerfully cinematic track.

It's a long album, this, but has enough variety to carry off without trouble, particularly as the closing quarter picks up the tempo and sharpens up the bass. Scionide pushes forward with an array of squiggly motifs, and Mushroom Mario introduces a mass of bleeps and breaks. The Reason Why (You Never Will) returns to vocal territory, sounding a bit like Goldfrapp fed through a musical blender.

The music of Octogen seems best filed alongside the Vector Lovers, one of Soma's more recent successes, but whereas the latter is more obviously computer based this has a beating heart. There's a warmth that will suit late summer nights, not to mention being the perfect comedown for stressed out office workers.

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