- GLAQJO XAACSO is a lot of things at once—so much so that the line between patient detail and random accident is pretty narrow. Arrangements rarely stay the same for very long, often lapsing unexpectedly into dissonance. As a result, the album is permeated with a discombobulated sense of mood. Moreover, patten's tracks tend to be quite squashed, and the way their elements pan and slide without warning makes it seem like they're trying to squirm out from under that hefty compression.
Consequently, the shortest tracks—calling them interludes would be a misnomer—provide some of the record's brightest spots. "Crown 8vo" recalls pressurized air travel, all looping, vertiginous tones and panning kicks. And "Peachy Swan" resembles Afrikan Sciences in its stumbling rhythm and unhinged melody, abruptly cutting off as it starts to escalate. Neither lasts long enough for patten's ADD to kick in. Although they require more patience, the longer tracks aren't without their merits either. "Ice" opens the album with a rush of smothered euphoria, pervaded by distorted, carnivalesque organ tones, incoherent human voices and an overdriven, skittering rhythm. "Blush Mosaic" is a heady scramble, pitting a vivid synth line against clipped kicks and a messy assortment of frantic hi-hats. "Out the Coast" is both elegiac and busted up, as distant rave strings and richly resonant bass tones are interwoven with lysergic synths and wildly unquantized drums.
GLAQJO XAACSO doesn't cohesively blend ideas as much as it captures them mid-blend. It's disordered, but in a way that affords equal space to lightheaded, melodic clusters and harsh, frayed chunks of digital noise. patten is clearly willing to toy with his numerous ideas in lieu of easy hooks, and he concedes remarkably little here.
Tracklist 01. Ice
02. Crown 8vo
03. Words collided
04. A.M/Soft focus
05. Blush Mosaic
06. & Our Wild Paths Intersect
07. Fire Dream
08. Peachy Swan
09. Out the Coast
10. Ndi Bem
11. Plurals
12. Rubylith Film