Casino Versus Japan - Whole Numbers Play The Basics

Probably the most wistful music you'll hear this year is on this debut album by Casino Versus Japan, which takes us back to the good old days when electronica wasn't afraid to be beautiful. Tracks like "The Possible Light" and "Summer Clip" have the same kind of warped grandiloquence as the Aphex Twin and Global Communications a decade ago: delicate melodic flakes magnified through a cosmic amplifier. On tracks like "Moonlupe", Vangelis is even brought to mind—and there's nothing illegal about that. "Em Essey" essays a heart-breaking poignancy worthy of Mu-Ziq at his least ironic. An unexpected beauty.

Rating: 4 / 10