Burial – Untrue

I have been listening to various forms of electronic music since I was 8 years old in ‘88 and pedalling to the local record store to buy house 12″s, so perhaps unlike a few here because of that I’m not quite so easily won.

I have seen the ’saviours’ and the ‘geniuses’ come and then fade. All have left thier mark, but few made music beyond a tune or two that has lasted much beyond the time in which it was made for reasons other than nostalgia.

Burial doesn’t fit in to the previous category. What’s on here will almost definitely deserve listening to again in 10 years time, and still sound interesting.

Because of media hype surrounding his identity, Burial has been elevated to a level of status he might not otherwise have attained, but if that brings music of this calibre and innovation to a wider audience, then all the better.
For the more discerning listener though, a lot of what is found here has been heard before: soundscapes, subtle strings for big emotion, heavily processed vocals and plenty of white noise; in some places I’m made to think of early Aphex Twin meets Dubstep…

Apparently Burial comes under the classification of ‘Dubstep’, but a lot of what you hear on here neatly sidesteps easy classification, which as with most music, makes it all the more worth listening, and this definitely is.
Not being a Dubstep fan myself (too much stylisation, too little variation), I dismissed this album before really listening closely and at length, but upon doing so, and continuing to do so, I have been rewarded immensely.
To anyone listening to this for the first time, I’d say Listen again, and again, and again… This isn’t instant access music, like (in my experience) a lot of music that really stays with you, it takes time to grow on you; it’s the kind of music that creeps inside you instead of bludgeoning you with it’s presence.

Standouts for me are ‘Shell of Light’ and ‘Ghost Hardware’, these two alone would justify buying the album.
From 13 tracks, there are perhaps two that have me skipping to the next track, and that’s saying a lot for a single artist dance music album.

Bearing in mind the Burial had no desire to be a part of the media hype that is now attached to him, and his only desire was in his own words ‘to make some tunes’, the one thing this album is, is honest and true, there’s no pretention here; this music comes from the heart.

Buy this, you’ll be humbled by it’s sincerity.

Buy Burial – Untrue @ Amazon