Beauty is Useless

Though Beauty is Useless is only his second solo record, James Devane has been producing and performing music for over two decades, both in isolation and collaboratively (as his duo "En" with Maxwell August Croy). While his first record (s/t on Bremsstrahlung) explored digital manipulation of guitar based loops, Beauty finds Devane replacing the computer processing and aural landscape projection for a couple vintage keyboards, modular based effects and most notably a drum machine. Evoking elements of German minimal techno, Beauty is a rich, focused discovery of process and restraint where less is refreshingly more.

Pairing undulating synthesizers with cycling grooves, the Bay Area electronic musician’s first album in 14 years calls back to the ambient techno of the late 1990s.