Burial - Untrue

I'm not a big listener of dubstep or anything close to it, and I only got this because of its wide critical acclaim. I wasn't disappointed, because as far as minimalist dance music you can't actually dance to goes, it's pretty enjoyable. The best thing about the album is the atmosphere. It's definitely meant to be listened to with headphones or in a car. Simple beats and well placed bass make up the backbone, while sparse but gripping, haunting ambient elements creep in and wrap the tunes into a sometimes off-putting, sometimes comforting cocoon. There are a lot of vocal elements, but they're all played with in some way, changed in pitch, interrupted, distorted, so that the normally beautiful singing turns into something different that only enhances the strangeness of the music.

There's a good flow to the album. Most tracks sound similar, but different enough to distinguish them while listening. It may be difficult to remember which one is which, but while it's playing through, every song has some unique element or hook that will make you think "Oh yeah, that's in this song. I like it." Variety isn't exactly the record's strength, although someone more into the style might see more to it, and it doesn't have to be. It's definitely not something I'd recommend individual songs from, it really should be listened to all the way through. Some of my favorite songs are "Archangel" for its vocal melody, "Etched Headplate" for the dissonance of the bass with the rest of the beat, "Shell of Light" for its relatively uplifting nature, "Homeless" for its awesomeness, but really every track has something making it worth listening too. Check it out if only for something different.