E2-XO

Tom Middleton's GCOM moniker is intended as an evolution of Global Communication, his influential ambient techno project with Mark Pritchard, which remains best known for the landmark 1994 full-length 76:14. While that album glanced forward to the future but was largely a reflective set of unhurried dreamscapes, GCOM's debut is a vastly ambitious construction that encompasses multiple genres, and sounds like it's attempting to blast into another universe and transcend time altogether. The record's themes are related to humanity's impact on the Earth's climate, artificial intelligence, intergalactic travel, and the search for a new home planet. Middleton interprets all of these concepts through intense sound design and rhapsodic orchestral arrangements, fusing grand-scale emotions with ecstatic future-shock. Album opener "Noctis Ultimus (Epic Mix)" is a space fanfare similar to the beginning of a Hans Zimmer-scored fantasy/sci-fi blockbuster. Then we're plunged into the brain-scrambling vortex of "XO Transmission #1," a collaboration with the late French producer Qebrus, who was regarded as a pioneer of the flashcore subgenre. The slow, knocking percussion and patient build of "Anthropocene" are as close as the album gets to revisiting 76:14 territory. Most of the beat-driven tracks are influenced by the swinging rhythms and meditative bass of U.K. dubstep and dark garage circa the 2000s and 2010s, but the textures are more expansive and atmospheric. "XO 2 (Kapteyn b)" is perhaps the set's most successful fusion of '90s ambient techno/IDM and 21st century U.K. bass styles, with a dollop of astral drama thrown in as well. "XO 4 (Wolf 1061c)" is a glitch-riddled drum'n'bass stormer that approximates the journey of a rocket soaring through the cosmos, only turning off the fuel during the final minutes, as the momentum still carries the ship onward. "XO 7 (Teegarden b)" can only be described as the awakening of a glorious dawn, after which the album takes root among the stars, recalling the space music of composers like Jonn Serrie and Michael Stearns with the 15-minute planetarium-ready zone-out "Beyond the Milky Way" (although the CD edition of E2-XO contains a shorter edit of the piece). Middleton is working on an absurdly grand scale with this project, and it can be hard to tell exactly how the cinematic bravado, noise experiments, and breakbeat expeditions all connect to each other. Nevertheless, there is an abundance of fascinating material here, and it's clear that the whole thing is meant to be part of a larger discussion regarding space exploration, cosmology, and the future of the human race. ~ Paul Simpson