Meteorology

The back story behind Vancouver producer Frivolous' third album Meteorology is ridiculous, but too ridiculous to be fiction. Daniel Gardner found Berlin unwelcoming and took an extended sabbatical to a remote island in the Pacific Ocean, where his long-term partner ended their relationship the day before she was supposed to join him. Harsh. The result is a fascinating full-length with the kind of ups and downs that you'd expect from someone who spent almost half a year on a gorgeous tropical island in emotional turmoil. More outgoing and less blunted than 2007's Midnight Black Indulgence on Scape, Meteorology marks another satisfying album from the critically-beleaguered Cadenza Records after Ernesto Ferreyra's fantastic long-player. As per the label's usual M.O., it's vaguely tropical and twitchy tech house. The beats are padded and reinforced with an entire ecosystem of in-triguing samples.