Martin Eden - Dedicate Function (Lefse Records)

Martin Eden is the moniker of Matthew Cooper, mastermind of the long-running Eluvium. In the past few years, he’s stepped out of that band’s comfortable role of gorgeous ambient and classical music, and Martin Eden is a further step away. For this project, he’s making dance music. It’s not the in-your-face type of dance music, mind you, but more like Four Tet, Autechre, and even Pet Shop Boys‘ Chris Lowe. In other words the music found on Dedicate Function, is quiet, intelligent, experimental, possesses nice beats, but it’s not vapid, nor off-putting in complexity. Sure,“Etc_etc” doesn’t have anything resembling a beat, but its gentle drone charm makes you forget that. Instead, go for the hushed rhythms of “Short Cut” and “Hum,” or the pulsating “Verions,” all chilled-out and relaxing. If anything, the sounds of Dedicate Function feel like the work of an expert at one sound—ambient—taking an active role in mutating his style into something else. Fortunately, the gambit pays off.