Aether Makeshift Sanctuary

I'm not usually one to sit through an entire album when I've never heard it. But browsing around the other afternoon, I found an artist who took me by surprise: Aether's "Artifacts" kept me completely enthralled from beginning to end.

And the best part about listening to this album, for me, was that no one aspect to his work was better, or stood out more than the other. "Balanced" would be my word of choice to describe this album. It's relaxed and very cohesive. All aspects of composition and production are leveled perfectly so as to accent the rest of the album.

It's not about this song or that song, or even sections of some songs (which I'm guilty of latching onto when listening to music). Rather, it's that as the songs progress, I find myself getting excited for what's coming next. That, in and of itself, seems quite rare these days.Individually, the songs on "Artifacts" are relatively short lived, hitting peaks quickly, not lingering for too long, and ultimately leaving you with a nice echo in your ear.

As such, you can guess that the most impressive part of "Artifacts" for me is its entirety. I can't just listen to one or two tracks -- when I put one song on, I have to listen to all of them. Further, most of the transitions between songs are as powerful and enjoyable as the songs themselves, making this one of the few albums I've heard in a while where I can say I thoroughly enjoyed every moment.

This excerpt from Aether's bio on Exponential Records sums up his style very well.

Chavez is a diverse producer capable of making rock, downtempo, hip hop, electro and experimental music but there is definitely a signature sound that carries throughout. Most of Chavez's music is structured around the gritty boom bap sound of East Coast hip hop but there is also a dreamy and romantic soulfulness that inhabits each song - Aether