Texas Platters

Datalove

Electronic composer Cory Allen's ear has long been on the spectral side of avant-garde. His debut as Datalove reorganizes his mental crate-digging into something more accessible. He's an obvious disciple of J Dilla, and hip-hop beats are the backdrop for his splashes of Indian, soul, psych, and obscure library music samples. Dimensions could be a Stones Throw beat-biter, as on "Let's Ride" and "Ripe Apple," but then "Heavy Silence" creeps up like a 1970s horror film and folds in some of Allen's more experimental side before retreating back into a reverb-heavy whirl of stuttered samples. He's a skilled collagist, so there's no place to find fault within Dimensions of Tomorrow. It's an album meant as background music, but the sound and vision are there.