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Ilkae

Bring Extra Dragons | Merck
By MATTHEW GASTEIER  |  January 29, 2007
3.0 3.0 Stars

070202_inside_dragons
If you’ve ever wondered what it was like to star in your own personal Mega Man video game for the original ’80s Nintendo system, Ilkae are here for you. A misfit duo who tweak IDM conventions just enough that they don’t really belong to any genre, Ilkae are electronic producers working a kaleidoscopic world (or maybe level) with warbly tech lines and robot punches. “Equate with Oxen” takes a quick drum machine and static-filled electronic tones you might find in more serious cutting-edge glitch and sticks a fun-loving synth over them, turning the whole thing into an epic eight-bit symphony. The tracks can descend into pure chaos, like the initial explosion of “Exit Theme and Victory March,” or coalesce into controlled beats, like the glitch-hop “Cinnamon Dragon Blues.” But as you fly on spaceships, travel in an underwater submarine, and cross deserts in pursuit of the kidnapped princess/scientist/nephew, it all takes on a unified purpose, like some off-kilter digital challenge that bursts with new-found visions and styles.
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