ArQer & Realtime are a Houston based duo that have been together for nearly 23 years. This album is fresh off of a 10 year hiatus, and hot on the heels of a recent release on Patrol the Skies’ 2018 holiday EP. The duo knocked it out of the park with this release, and bring to light creative soundscapes, a sea of reverb, and an inventive take on drum and bass. Drawing from darker sounds, pop culture, sci fi, yet an unmistakable chill vibe.
Inspired by living in Victoria and Houston, TX, the duo channeled the actual physical location of Victoria, which is “called the crossroads apparently because it’s proximity to San Antonio, Houston, Austin, and Corpus Christi. The Crossroads is also where you make a deal with the devil, where lots of evil shit goes down.” Mark from the duo states that all of the song titles are “named after crazy shit that happened to us there. You really get numb to how bizarre shit is until your buddy comes down and points it out. I look at that place and go damn, that place is weird, borderline evil at times. Doug calls that place the shimmer.”
The duo are residents at our new monthly, Amen, featuring the best from the world of drum and bass, at Gravity Midtown, with the next show on February 1.
Quick Track by Track
- Pebble Beach – Chill, dreamy spacey track. This sets a high bar for the album from the very beginning.
- Bad Service – Old school raga feel, while still maintaining the mellowness.
- China Bee – At this point in the album, we turned to our partner in the room, and said “isn’t this freaking great??” Sandwiching a solid retro vibe, a juicy minor key, and a delightfully airy feel, this is definitely a standout track.
- Incognito – This track doesn’t have the constant drive as the more danceable tracks, but it’s still captivating. It creates a solid soundscape of otherworldly echoes.
- Crawl Your Way Out – Peppered with haunting female vocals, this is the gateway to the darkest part of the album. We can only imagine that it has something to do with the shimmer.
- P Brane – The duo continue into the darker territory, compounding into the foundation of this track.
- Numas Trauma – This track reminds us of the suspense music in a horror scifi. Seamlessly woven with thoughtful distortion, this is one of our favorite tracks on the offering.
- Salami Tactics – Quirky, yet still fun and well composed. This is the video game music that we wished we had but never knew it.
- The Hang – Headed with classic organ tones, this is a solid dance floor groove, swimming in a juicy echo.
- 出家人 Shukkejin – The track hovers over a layer of airy drone, that lightly drives you to a constant headed. Gorgeous.
- Gummy Rings – Why is this track called Gummy Rings? We guess it sounds squishy, but it’s just simply a solid track. It’s unconventional and inventive. Another favorite.
- Avondale – Starting with an unsuspecting chord progression, and solid groove, this track seems to stumble a little in transition at a minute, this track seems to lose steam after it’s fantastic opening.
Congrats guys on the big release! Available today on Patrol the Skies Music and on your favorite streaming service.
Journalist/blogger since 2009 and music lover since 1980. Bex now travels the world and writes and takes photos of dance events, creates art in various media, sings quietly to her cat in the shower, and occasionally builds something that tends to involve a blowtorch. She can usually be seen hiding behind some sort of camera rig.
