On this album UPLAND seem to weigh evenly between experimentalism and construction. "Flex" is an excellent example of the former - a short dabble of electronic at it's most raw and a wild but effective manipulation of the source sound. There's just enough of the colour-drained scratchery which makes passing sweeps at rhythm to make an intriguing segue into "+win Gap". And with this the seat-of-the-pants experimentalism in agitated rhythms becomes a wholly more enjoyable listen. By "-nd Falling" you are fairly that this is a) a delve further into the possibilities of rhythmic structure as has been established by the likes of AUTECHRE, and b) that, through accident or design, UPLAND have reinvented Drum 'N Bass's manic approach to rhythmic chaos - less through clever but predictable composition than through an equally clever ongoing process of Process. The next track, "Roo+", develops the sound to a lower, more ambient level, owing more to the likes of LULL - a metallic progression of sustains which layer up into a moods soporific cloud chamber of drifts, always at the edge of feedback chaos, yet somehow always in control. "Block" seems to combine the darker moodiness of the previous track with the percussive trills and tempo dabblings of tracks two and three. After a handful of listens this becomes one of the more 'tuneful' tracks on the album, with the hook hidden within the ever-active multi-layers of sound. "Carrier Down" follows a similar sound, with a graceful charming but chilling underlying mood track hidden beneath the full-on attack of the uneasy percussion. The last credited track, "Marshga+e", is perhaps the most accomplished piece here, having all the elements of the previous tracks - out-of-control percussion set against a darkly sombre backdrop of rolling bass and shifting noise-sound. Yet you feel there is a more benign feeling to this, a more relaxing charm to the overall sound. Tagged on the end, after about a minute's silence is another fine example of this experimentalism. Again this soon grows to garner a familiarity - the tune may not be immediately obvious, yet it soon worms it's way into your mind. And this piece is the most evenly structured, making it a dance piece for the drug-dulled and zombified. Falling somewhere between the clinical precision of the Junglist and the random experimentations of people who gut old electronic gadgets and turn them into sound sources, this has an enjoyable raw edginess which might appeal as far from Cape Normal as the Japanese Noise enthusiasts, while maybe even teasing the expectations of those who like clinically precise rhythmic compositions. This is alien enough to have few if any recognizable sound sourcings - even the percussion, which growls, throbs and twitters throughout, sounds unnaturally outré. Indeed the matted depths of the bass, and on the last track what I assume is a kick drum, are the only (nearly absolute) household pets! Experimental on almost every level, therefore, and yet it works, and works well! Originally reviewed for Metamorphic Journeyman.