The sophomore release from New Zealand's Aspen is a marked progression from last year's excellent, but overlooked, debut Album. Retail Snob is a strong, compelling long player with ten varied, high quality tracks that hang together cohesively as an album, but are also equally capable of standing on their own. The music has matured this time around, with an overall mood that is more somber and serene. Throughout this LP, Bevan Smith creates a musical atmosphere tinged with emotional loss and introspection. These are cerebral listening tracks, with fewer appearances of the catchy, poppy melodies found on Album. Production is flawless and lush, with Aspen's characteristic crisp and clean percussion laid over soothing melodies and effects.

Smith crafts well-designed tracks with melodic elements which are balanced and intelligently integrated. The title track employs wicked syncopation techniques to cut up and apportion warm, wet chord pads and intricately programmed stairstep arpeggios. All of the song's elements are confidently laid back, but the combination is powerfully comforting. Several of the tracks create a distant, isolated mood not unlike some of the better Markant tracks: Tips For Beginners uses hollowed out chords over fat resonant analog sawtooths and rock steady electro 8 counts, Anniversery is uncharacteristically beatless with spooky sonorous tones which glide past each other slowly, and Forgotten Last Moments is ominous and foreboding dark ambience which wouldn't be out of place on SAWII. One of the highlights is a tuneful ten minute epic, This Is Why Only Teenagers Can Really Love Music. This gorgeous piece opens with chunky Berlin dub stabs and Aspen's intricate drumwork; slowly but steadily, various accompaniments are added to result in a tense, touching masterpiece in the style of classic 76:14. Midway through, Aspen pulls a classic extended dropout which kicks back in with a sucker punch of ambient glory to nice dramatic effect.

Back "in the day" when the landscape for listening techno was first being mapped, well-known pioneers unashamedly spewed out lush, melodic electronic tunes that tugged at your heartstrings with their beauty. Over the last several years, the direction and emphasis has shifted more to abstract, crunchy noise, often at the expense of melody. Aspen offers a return to the earlier aesthetic, with modern futuristic compositions that still retain strong values of musical composition and orchestration. Are You That Retail Snob? delivers powerful emotive punch, and is a recommended purchase for listeners with a weakness for the more melodic end of IDM.

(From Urbansounds)