PrototypeRaptor. Even the name sounds awesome.
It's the moniker for producer Jonathan Paulsen, who's been making music for over a decade, and who's been on my radar for the last few years. Initially I was drawn to his extremely melodic, yet restless electro sound. It was somewhat reminiscent of the work of Feed Me, but with a bit more bite.
The man is a machine, and has put out two full albums, several lengthy EPs and singles in the last two years or so alone. His recent releases have taken on an altogether different sound, and his forthcoming Elemental EP looks to expand and refine on this greatly.
His last album, 3-1, began this transition. It was quite a departure from the album that had been released just a few months before, Nostalgiarithm (though work started on 3-1 long before this was released). One word to describe his new style? Funk. And lots of it. The trademark glitchiness is still audible, but to a lesser extent. This new material feels like it's been cut from the same cloth as Pretty Lights', but it has an altogether different sound to that artist's work.
Judging from the preview, his new Elemental EP seeks to not only expand on this new sound, but also to provide a slightly more varied experience, almost as if to prove that he can still make good ol' fashioned PrototypeRaptor electro should he wish to. But by and large, his new tracks feel like they're much more laid back and down tempo, with the funk being provided by impressive bass guitar work (seriously, I can't actually decided whether it's a synth or not in that first track, and that is definitely a compliment), guitar licks and interesting chord sequences.
It's nice to see that he hasn't abandoned the trademarks of his style, however - his ability to craft interesting bassline melodies independent of everything going on around them has always been one of my favourite things about his work.
The new PrototypeRaptor feels almost like a teenager who's emerged from puberty - there was a time of conflict and confusion, but now everything has come together in the best possible way. His style has calmed down somewhat, whilst retaining the very best aspects of what makes it so unique.
...that's probably one of the worst analogies I've ever made, but whatever.
Obviously we'll have to wait for the EP to release before passing a proper verdict, but with this preview being so good, and the release being less than a month away, it won't be long before we can get our hands on this gem properly.
The Octopus doesn't think it's fair to review releases based on previews, so he'll review this release upon it's official release.
Writer, musician, and all-round top guy. I set up Excited Octopus. Currently, I'm on a one man team. It gets lonely sometimes. But I don't mind, because I love you all.
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