Arkuarium

back in stock. On this, his first proper EP for Thema, we can hear a lifetime of Berroyer’s music appreciation splayed across both sides. The A side draws from the darker subterranean end of Berroyer’s inner dancefloor with the aquatic meditative prologue, “Arkuarium.” “Baibe”—a rarity from the vaults—has a sly groove punctuated by subtle jazz guitar and one sweaty, desperate vocal sample. The glitch-laden “Truckerz” caps it off with an animated dash of driving stripped-down house lunacy. On the flip “Holy Day” greets you with an aural rumination on oppression, expression and fear. Sunny, swooning instrumentation clashes with the speeches and news clips strewn throughout. It works beautifully—painting what could be a scene of a backyard barbecue party in a dystopian suburb out of Orwell’s “1984”... at once ominous and soothing. “Hotel” sounds like it may have been recorded during the same session, but has a distinctly more upbeat vibe. The Ark machine is now in full effervescing mode and the vocal detrius is woven into a crazy oblique narrative before our very ears. Closing things out is “Jazzark”. Ark’s interludes have always been an integral part of his EPs. We’ll consider this one as an, um... refreshing look at our musical heritage... which is pretty much the basis of the man’s entire discography.