John Roberts - Fences

Label: Dial – Dial LP 28
Format: 2 x Vinyl, Album, 12", 45 RPM
Country: Germany
Released: May 27, 2013
Genre: Electronic
Style: House, Deep House

John Roberts second album Fences on Dial incorporates distinctly Eastern instrumental samples and toybox melodies, which jostle for prominence amongst the soft piano and keening strings.

Time and again across Fences, the tracks which impress most are the strangest. Early highlight Shoes drops the tempo of its crashing kicks to play host to a beautiful combination of echoing keys and a mesmerising detuned melody. Later on, Plaster picks up these bewitching analog sounds with an imperial stomp, while an unexpectedly beautiful rest at the 2-minute mark exhibits Roberts’ prescient grasp over song structure. Penultimate track Blanket completes the trilogy of detuned highlights, another slow jam where frayed synthwork lays the ground for exotic toybox melodies.

Despite Roberts’ dedication to crashing percussive patterns, some of Fences’ beat-less pieces remain some of its most successful moments. Opener Bleach and mid-album interlude Braids are both stunning feats of sample manipulation; beautiful and spacious constructions as moving as they are meditative. These gorgeous passages, along with beautiful closing dirge Chalkdust, are a welcome respite from the album’s denser moments which, while immaculately crafted, can feel somewhat cluttered when listening to the album in full. 

A1. Bleach
A2. Palace
A3. Mussels
B1. Shoes
B2. Calico
C1. Braids
C2. Plaster
C3. Fences
D1. Blanket
D2. Chalkdust