Exterior is the artist moniker of Edinburgh producer Doug MacDonald. Exterior represents his transition to electronic music and an embrace of the dancefloor. Doug played hardcore and noise-rock for a long time before eventually abandoning collaboration, nostalgia and formulaic rebellion in favour of synthesis. What he gained on the way was an understanding of the power of live drumming and years of finely honed performance-skills, something of an aberration in dance music.
Exterior thus represents a convergence of disparate personal and musical pleasures. Accordingly Exterior draws on rhythmic mavericks as divergent as Fugazi, Battles & Swans as well as DJ Spoko, Clark & Hieroglyphic Being. In addition, there is a deep undercurrent of melody and texture, drawing on the likes of Burial, Miles Davis & Bjork. Eschewing the modern home computer in favour of an exclusively hardware based approach, Exterior espouses a physical relationship to what is at heart an abstract practice, composing electronic dance music. Perhaps it’s unsurprising, then, that one of the things which really sets Exterior apart is his intoxicating live show. He gets the crowd going every single time he performs, so infectious is his energy, as he throws shapes and struts his stuff behind the gear, clearly 100% in the moment and his element.
The three originals contains here are a perfectly modern amalgamation of choice dance music tropes. There's the full frequency spectrum assault of UK bass, the highly frenetic rhythms of Chicago house, the hoover synths of Belgium techno and the glitch, wobbly and weirdness of the Cornish acid crew (AFX, Ceefax, Squarepusher); all ushered through at an ADHD-satisfying urgency and intensity. In short, it's the technicoloured endorphin rush your stadium rave up never knew it wanted; with myriad moods sweeping through the three tracks effortlessly.
On remix duties, the elusive but prolific DALI's "Collapsing Star" remix clocks in at just over 9 minutes, another marathon-length effort and perfectly encapsulating its namesake. Setting the beats to classic electro, everything's pushed hard until it all seems ready to fall rapidly apart (and it very nearly does), before dissolving in a fiery sizzle: a more visceral, dancefloor accompaniment to Exterior's heady affair.
Exterior thus represents a convergence of disparate personal and musical pleasures. Accordingly Exterior draws on rhythmic mavericks as divergent as Fugazi, Battles & Swans as well as DJ Spoko, Clark & Hieroglyphic Being. In addition, there is a deep undercurrent of melody and texture, drawing on the likes of Burial, Miles Davis & Bjork. Eschewing the modern home computer in favour of an exclusively hardware based approach, Exterior espouses a physical relationship to what is at heart an abstract practice, composing electronic dance music. Perhaps it’s unsurprising, then, that one of the things which really sets Exterior apart is his intoxicating live show. He gets the crowd going every single time he performs, so infectious is his energy, as he throws shapes and struts his stuff behind the gear, clearly 100% in the moment and his element.
The three originals contains here are a perfectly modern amalgamation of choice dance music tropes. There's the full frequency spectrum assault of UK bass, the highly frenetic rhythms of Chicago house, the hoover synths of Belgium techno and the glitch, wobbly and weirdness of the Cornish acid crew (AFX, Ceefax, Squarepusher); all ushered through at an ADHD-satisfying urgency and intensity. In short, it's the technicoloured endorphin rush your stadium rave up never knew it wanted; with myriad moods sweeping through the three tracks effortlessly.
On remix duties, the elusive but prolific DALI's "Collapsing Star" remix clocks in at just over 9 minutes, another marathon-length effort and perfectly encapsulating its namesake. Setting the beats to classic electro, everything's pushed hard until it all seems ready to fall rapidly apart (and it very nearly does), before dissolving in a fiery sizzle: a more visceral, dancefloor accompaniment to Exterior's heady affair.
TRACK LISTING
A1: Plagued Streets Of Pity (141bpm)
A2: Let Them Come To You (110bpm)
B1: Future Daze (139 Bpm)
B2: Plagued Streets Of Pity (DALI’s 'Collapsing Star' Remix) (135bpm)
