- Although Move D will be familiar to most, HEAR is most likely a new name. He was a film director in his native Canada, before started focussing on music in the mid-'00s. Distant Voices is their first collaboration, and it drops on Montreal's eclectic, experimental-leaning Archipel, a label that seems to have allowed both artists to fully indulge themselves—Move D with the darker side of his production psyche and HEAR with the atmospheric soundscapes he no doubt experimented with during his directorial days. The result is about as far as you'll get from the sunny house music Move D often makes.
"Irene Birth" buries a kick so deeply in a metal haze it's as if they didn't want you to notice it, preferring to draw your attention to horror movie-style bells and alien warbling. A hint of rhythm is introduced with a rising bassline, but it's far from overt. It's an engrossing piece that's backed by two strong, stylistically opposed tracks. "Open Spaces" continues the journey through restrained intergalactic techno, but with a hint more space and light than its bleak predecessor. With "Montytek" they really let rip, eschewing carefully created tension for a heavy kick and panic-inducing lead synth.
TracklistA Irene Birth
B1 Open Spaces
B2 Montytek