Chris Ianuzzi has become a YEDM favorite and an example of the type of experimental electronica that fuels EDM with out EDMers even knowing about it. With a firm foot still in post punk and indie/electronic crossover, Ianuzzi is in a unique position to draw in fans of multiple genres with his well-composed, Philip Glass-style organized chaos. While most of this work is just that: a load of tinkering and technically complex composition meant to sound chaotic, Ianuzzi does sometimes step all the way in to EDM, even to the point where one can find a solid genre or two. This is the case with his new dual single, “Distant Suns” and “Wild Side.”
With a actual beats and even a melody, Ianuzzi has channeled his inner raver in “Distant Suns,” the ostensible a-side of the two tracks. The track opens with a feedback-driven vintage tune-in vibe before launching into a trancy straight beat without a buildup. Sad straight beat is accompanied by a 90s rave-style melody which is sort of ambient to the beat, which, without the listener noticing, turns into a more deep techno beat before the whole thing is cut off without ceremony and switches to an industrial-soaked breakbeat. The track continues thus, with the various trance-techno-breakbeat loops starting and stopping arbitrarily and Ianuzzi’s dissonant vocals being, surprisingly, the only element that continues on a followable trajectory. “Distant Suns” is thus able to straddle EDM, post punk and experimental at once: the elements of EDM are there, but the structure is all Ianuzzi and his glorious chaos.
It’s clear upon listening to “Wild Side” that in these two tracks, Ianuzzi was playing around with different percussive sounds that are sort of timey and spacey in nature. They’re present in “Distant Suns” but in “Wild Side” they comprise a significant line of music. Also with a surprising amount of perceivable structure, “Wild Side” is actually more linear than “Distant Suns,” as its running bassline drives the track while the minimal trap beat anchors it. Over, aside and around these structures, however, is the sonic equivalent of Tron superimposed over Salvador Dalí’s Persistence of Memory series with the melting clocks. While more industrial-meets-post punk than EDM, “Wild Side” is still cohesive enough to tickle the EDM fan’s fancy as well. It would be excellent at the end of a sunrise set at the end of a festival.
Fans can always expect the unexpected from Chris Ianuzzi, and “Distant Suns” and “Wild Side” are no exception. With his last track prior to these being more ambient experimental, it’s nice to see this electronica mad scientist play with beat and percussion once more.
“Distant Suns” and “Wild Side” are out now and available to stream on Spotify.