Track Attack: A.A.L. (Against All Logic)’s “Some Kind of Game” Knocks So Hard

Posted: by The Editor

against all logic

I’ll be upfront with ya’ll. My reference base for the broad, blanket category of electronic dance music is weak. I’m very picky with the types of club music I like, and a lot of things that should conceivably appeal to me for whatever reason don’t. I’m prefacing with this info so that I don’t trick you into thinking that I’m a reasonable authority figure for constituting “good” electronic music. The handful of producers I do actively listen to/enjoy are Dan Deacon, yaeji, Burial, Sporting Life, Mount Kimbie, Actress and (not anymore, given the recent scandal) Crystal Castles. If you don’t dig those acts and/or if you think my interest in them has no bearing on my license to recommend something else, feel free to stop reading.

For those still with me, I also really like Nicholas Jaar‘s 2016 record Sirens, which was as ambient and soundtrack-like as it was discordant and entrancing. A couple weeks ago Jaar quietly dropped a record under the moniker A.A.L. (Against All Logic) that was, as implicated by its title, 2012-2017, a collection of unreleased material spanning the last several years. The record earned a ‘Best New Music‘ tag on Pitchfork which I, again, take my assessment with a grain of salt here, wholeheartedly agreed with. Perhaps my adoration as a dance music novice is actually a welcome compliment, though. Unlike Sirens, which I liked for its formlessness and brooding atmosphere, 2012-2017 is one club banger after the other. Knocking basslines, flashy piano licks, hype samples (including an unexpected Kanye clip) and some truly beautiful, elaborate arrangements.

“Some Kind of Game” is the most kinetic of the bunch. It’s got a clobbering rhythm that gradually gets faster and more complex, as vocal samples and blazing keyboard progressions join in tastefully. It’s the kind of song I feel like I need to hear live, blitzed out in a club. But it’s also the kind of song I just want to dance around my room to on a weekday night. The type of song I want to fold laundry to. The type of song I want to drive to the grocery store to. The type of song that makes whatever mundane task I’m doing at the current moment feel infinitely more exciting and revelatory.

Check it out:

Eli Enis | @eli_enis