File Under Futurism

by Heather PharesDJ Spooky's File Under Futurism is the result of a six-month collaboration with the Freight Elevator Quartet, an avant-garde electronic and acoustic group dedicated to pioneering new musical sounds and techniques. File Under Futurism features variations on compositions by DJ Spooky that were then reworked and remixed by both Spooky and the Freight Elevator Quartet. Each of the album's pieces reflects society's increasing speed and reliance on technology while exploring different subgenres of electronic music, from the breakbeat-inflected "File Under Futurism (Groove Protocol Mix)" to the minimalist, cello-driven "Downtempo Manifesto," to the heavily processed digital hardcore of "Experimental Asynchronicity," to the gentler, ambient "Chromatic Aberration." File Under Futurism also includes DJ Spooky turntablisms "Interstitial A" and "Interstitial B," as well as Freight Elevator Quartet compositions like "Bring Me My Mental Health" and "The RCA Mark II Synthesizer," which was composed on the first synthesizer ever built. An ambitious and fascinating album, File Under Futurism is a rare successful combination of academics and kinetics.