Album Review: Burial - Rival Dealer

Burial
Rival Dealer
Rating: Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It

Burial, nee Will Bevan, never truly follows any path that is expected of him. Releasing two full lengths, including his masterpiece Untrue, to almost universal acclaim, he has released new music when it suits him, usually in the form of one off singles, collaborations, and lately a yearly EP. Last year's brilliant EP Truant/Rough Sleeper found Burial tweaking his formula ever so slightly, indicating that Burial might be in the midst of changing his iconic sound. With his latest winter release, the three song EP Rival Dealer, it is still distinctly Burial, however, he has definitely moved on to a more expansive sound, one that suits him, but yet still is in its gestation phase. This is the first Burial release that I really want to love it, but something holds me back from it. While the production is still uniformly good and unique, there is a distinct lack of cohesion between the three tracks and, for me, some truly horrific editing problems, where tracks end unformed and abruptly, segues into the tracks are practically non-existent, and even within tracks there are tonal shifts that are jarring. But even with those misgivings, Rival Dealer is still impossible to ignore, finding moments of true beauty. It is truly Burial's most optimistic work, with Bevan stating that it is an anti-bullying record, replete with many samples that refer to loving oneself, being true to who you are, and culminating with a long piece from a speech by Lana Wachowski accepting a visibility award from the Human Rights Campaign and discussing being transgender.

The EP begins with the title track, the epic 10+ minute "Rival Dealer,"



which starts off like a typical Burial track with what sounds like rainy, cold streets and subway sounds, that gets quickly upended by Burial's most furious and dancefloor heavy drum track, which throws out his usual signature 2-step blocking. That track throws in layers of vocal samples and almost air raid siren quality keyboards. After 7 minutes of sonic onslaught, the track takes a turn into gorgeous Tim Hecker drone/ambient territory, and is some of the most beautiful music Burial has ever made. The only drawback to the track is how it ends very abruptly, almost as an afterthought.

Second track "Hiders" is the least Burial sounding track on the record,



full of bright, celestial keyboards and piano chords, the track is elevated by a driving drum track in the middle section, before shifting once again into more ambient territory. At 5 minutes it is one of Burial's shorter tracks, and does feel too short, especially sandwiched between the two other longer tracks. But it is an interesting switch for Burial, focusing on brighter chords and adding warmth, but it feels too much like a sketch of something rather than a fully fledged track.

Which leads into the final 13 minuyes track "Come Down To Us,"



an impressionistic track that morphs and evolves over its lengthy run time, starting off a bed of twinkly synths, skyscraping swaths of synth strings, and a vaguely Middle Eastern melody. It flows into a more languid mid-section full of droning synths and samples imploring you to "don't be afraid of the truth," before changing once again into quite frankly a very odd, almost Celine Dion over the top style section that feels, and is, odd and takes away from what the track was building towards. And the final section, which samples the Lana Wachowski speech also feels tacked on and, while keeping with the thematic premise of the record, is rather jarring in the context of the track.

Rival Dealer is not a complete misstep for Burial. I like the fact that he is constantly moving his sound in different directions and doesn't like to keep doing the same thing over and over again. But over the past couple of years, his changes have been subtle and more thought out. Here, the stylistic leaps feel forced and not a natural progression. With that said, however, there is still a lot to recommend from this record; the title track alone is worth the price of admission. I only wish he had made the three tracks more cohesive and less jarring. But in the end, I will always take a Burial record that takes chances over just the same old same old.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.