Exo

Even if you’re not a hardcore fan of computerized cinematic soundscapes, this Chicago duo’s work provides total immersion into tracks that freely fuse acid house, electronica, and darkwave components into a distinctive whole. Jump-cut transitions, hypnotic interludes, and shiver-inducing textures suggest film cues for scenes of alien invasion and futuristic intrigue. Tracks like “Bog,” “Hydrus,\" and “Re-Gen” transcend the “ambient” label thanks to their seething atmosphere of impending menace. “Exolift,” “Encarta,” “Tree Drum,\" and similar cuts are more aggressive, even confrontational, swirling shards of industrial sounds. If you’re looking for your own inner chase sequence, “Dromos” will send you panting down the echoing corridors of your mind. Band masterminds Aaron David Ross and Matthew Arkell grasp their music\'s inherent power as well as the kitschy overtones of its components—there’s subversive humor laced deep inside the disquieting atmospherics. *Exo* offers entry into a compelling world of aural hallucination; jump in and enjoy at your own risk.

Eighteen months after Matthew Arkell and Aaron David Ross released the Giza EP under their Gatekeeper alias, they return with a 35-minute LP that sounds gigantic, often gloriously dumb, and, in its finest moments, promisingly brazen.

The duo known as Gatekeeper is one of the rising stars in an offshoot of electronic dance music known as "vaporwave."

Gatekeeper - Exo review: Long live the new flesh -- every stainless, mechanical, impenetrable, perfectly molded piece of it.