Scott Morrow is ALARM’s music editor. Patrick Hajduch is a very important lawyer. Each week they debate the merits of a different album.
Sahy Uhns: An Intolerant Disdain of Underlings (Proximal, 10/18/11)
Sahy Uhns: “Anticipation of the Night”
[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Sahy_Uhns_Anticipation_of_the_Night.mp3|titles=Sahy Uhns: “Anticipation of the Night”]
Morrow: Sahy Uhns (pronounced “science”) is the solo moniker of electronic/hip-hop producer Carl Madison Burgin, whose debut CD comes as part of a 5″ x 5″ book with photographs of the California deserts. The deserts are said to have inspired the album, but the glitchy, beat-ridden sounds therein are more the soundtrack for robots break-dancing than cactus needles rustling in the wind.
Though at times it simply resembles another detailed IDM album, An Intolerant Disdain of Underlings stands out with highly melodic phrasings and nuanced differences in timbre. It’s a beautiful, danceable sound collage that’s good for the car or the dance floor, falling somewhere between the styles of Warp recording artists (Chris) Clark and Harmonic 313.