There is no denying that Arpanet inhabit the darker regions of the neo-electro spectrum. Carrying the concept employed on their 2002 Source debut Wireless Internet even further, Quantum Transposition, Arpanet's second full-length release (and their debut on Rephlex) is a spooky exercise in mood that evokes the eerier work of Giorgio Moroder as much as it does minimal electro. Alternating between leaden, downcast dance tracks and ambient acoustic environments, the notoriously mysterious Arpanet create tense, desolate, horror-show atmospherics. Though suitable for the club setting, these pieces could just as easily have been the score to a sci-fi thriller or first-person shooter.
Curiously, Arpanet begin Quantum Transposition with four brief, icy vignettes that sound like Kraftwerk gone Goth. The drum machines and vintage keyboards on these pieces fall within the purview of Detroit techno, though the overall effect is also akin to the soundtrack work of Ennio Morricone (particularly on his frightening score to the John Carpenter film The Thing), electronic artists like Tangerine Dream, and the Italian progressive group, Goblin.
Comparisons to other artists, both old and new, are actually quite superfluous. Arpanet are skillful in assembling timeless, troublingly oppressive soundscapes that use the neo-electro formula as a vehicle for their darkly picaresque melodies. These pieces, though somewhat predictable, are subtly intriguing, and effective enough in their own right. Of course, each of these pieces is brief enough that, as a whole, the album doesn't even come close to trying one's patience. The inclusion of so many individual and reasonably diverse tracks is a welcome diversion from Wireless Internet, which featured far fewer tracks and was frequently prone to tiresome repetition. Arpanet even throw in some interesting variations in tempo for good measure, such as the false starts of the engaging "Entrophic Decay."
Whether it is a simple coincidence or a conscious homage (considering the fact that Arpanet have signed on to the label that he founded), the influence of Richard D. James is tangibly present on Quantum Transposition. The ninth track, "Information Quanta," is particularly reminiscent of Aphex Twin, to no small degree. Arpanet utilize an approach similar to James' modus operandi of creating compositions that subvert the traditional electronic paradigm, replacing it with something similar, yet wholly more unsettling. Arpanet specialize in creating deceptively simple tracks that ultimately reveal themselves to more balefully menacing than one first suspects. Beneath the skittery, minimalistic exterior of these tracks lurks something paranoid and claustrophobic, which is why these tracks work so well as a mood pieces.
Arpanet clearly possess an abundance of restraint, in addition to a nimble and impressive knack for composition. Quantum Transposition does not, however, push the boundaries of modern electronic music. Much like a reasonably good horror film, it is useful in conveying a brooding sense of atmosphere and foreboding. But once you turn it off, its evanescent nature is manifest in how quickly it simply goes away.
1. Innershell Shielding
2. Planck Factor
3. Entangled Photons
4. Heisenberg Compensation
5. Ionic Crystals
6. Entrophic Decay
7. Probability Densities
8. Orbital Wavelengths
9. Information Quanta
10. EPR Effect
11. Quantum State Recombination
12. Wave Function
13. Isotopic Balance
14. Uncertainty Principle
15. Variables
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