Outlaltuo – Ibe Thru Epetron (Album Review)

Sometimes, we need to pass through shifting forms to express what delicately comes to our mind. That could be in the form of a persona, a new identity, or simply a new project. Meet Outlaltuo, the alias of musician and producer Lewis Bigham. He started under the guise of Glassmasterer in 2018, and has been steadily releasing music for the last decade.

He has now shifted his attention entirely to that of the avant-garde as well as experimental electronica, playing regular shows within the UK underground electronic music scene.

His artistry involves a strong focus on utilising classic analogue synthesisers in both his recorded music and live setup, giving his work an organically warm and nostalgic quality. He is also currently based in the Peak District in England. In this instance, he has released a new album titled ‘Ibe Thru Epetron‘.

The album immediately draws you in, with the entrance track being ‘Ziegler7688’. It starts off with what sounds almost like a square wave and steady breakbeat electronic percussion, before being supported by mystic-sounding pads and an acoustic instrument. There’s a lack of resolve and a lot of emotion within the journey of the track, making it extremely dynamic and interesting to listen to. The slight delay added to some of the effects also give the track a very contemplative feel before infusing some elements of 909 acid synthesis. It’s a mixture between Aphex Twin, A Guy Called Gerald and Kraftwerk.

The album gets even better with the second track Hadfield Acid (mkorgus mix), with a beautiful soundscape that just encapsulates various different types of synthesis all at once, blooming right at your face in the midst of a steady beat. It also incorporates a lot of what I think is manually doing what Gross Beat on FL Studio does, which I love. It adds variation and doesn’t rely on the same patterns for an extended amount of measures. It’s dynamic and simply all-encompassing.

In ‘crimpresent tune1’, the 8-bit soundscape is delicately paired with a bold and strong bass, with complex lines of melody that intertwine with each other. I think if this song had sheet music, it would be very very compelling. The use of effects is also genius with this track and it actually has a certain structure to it, blending warm and cold timbres with typically ‘fx’ samples. There is a very high level of innovation within this track! Even though all the tracks in this album is compelling, this is truly one of my favourites.

The best way for me to describe this album is that it just gets better with every single track. If you thought the previous track out-did the relatively previous track to that, you’re dead wrong. All songs henceforth, just set the bar even higher and higher. Apanuary is absolutely lush in the sense of its unique time signature and technological innovation with the pitch wheel in the midst of all-encompassing pads. It’s just wonderful. I have nothing but literally praise for every other song, opReset, HRCsequencx, and so on. I just love how the artist has no limit when it comes to how many synthesized effects could be merged into one song so smoothly at that, even if the sound design of the sound is a bit ‘rougher’.

Another fascinating track to me that sticks out is ‘Sillybabbins’, which sounds like Robert Miles, early Paul van Dyk and early Bjork fused together. It has a breakbeat, funky feel but an orchestral arrangement to a degree, with a beautiful soundscape. ‘NewcastleTrip1’ goes deeper into the breakbeat soundscape with rich, lush and layered synthesis, almost turning atonal towards the end. The use of delay and acid synthesis together go so well in creating an exciting and Wii-esque soundscape.

‘Perfcasam Bath’ shifts the whole mode of the album, bearing more trancey, tribal, industrial and melodic trance motifs all at once with a house groove. It is just simply magical listening to this track, I have no other words- you have to listen to it and experience it to know what i’m exactly feeling. It’s almost like as if i’m levitating in combinatronics when it comes to the state space of what sounds waves can generate. The album finishes off in a calmer note, with ‘Post Wildfire’. The combination of the synthesis taking on a more ‘glide’ approach and the scale used makes it very ethereal and asiatic, reminding me of some Ethiopian and Hausa music but with the approach of gamelan. It comes off as more stripped-down, but is actually quite complex.

All in all, this album truly blew me away. As someone already in the scene of electronic music and constantly wanting more innovation and excitation within the subgenres of this multitudinous genre, this release is giving me exactly what I’m looking for- stretching the limits of musical potential all with proper hardware, arrangement and flow. Outlaltuo deserves way more views and recognition for his ability to construct such elaborate and technically proficient songs! I will definitely be on the lookout for this artist’s future releases.

SCORE/Outstanding: Outlaltuo basically breaks all standards in experimental electronic music with this release. It’s a fascinatingly complex and exciting album that I hate to say it, if you know, you will know! The amount of effects, types of synthesis and general ear for cohesion displayed within this release is beyond the level of the average musician.

[We rank singles, EPs, and albums on a scale of Poor, Mediocre, Good, Excellent, and Outstanding]

If you liked this, you can keep up with Outlaltuo on Instagram and Bandcamp