The Field

Yesterday & Today, the sophomore release from The Field (AKA Stockholm producer Axel Willner), is at times lovely, but more often than not, it's less than rewarding.

2007’s critically acclaimed electronic crossover From Here We Go Sublime managed to bring The Field’s blissed out music and ethereal vocal loops to the masses. However, what distinguishes Yesterday (and ultimately tries to save it) from their prior effort is The Field’s move in a more musically organic direction, evident in the album’s first single “The More That I Do.” Based around tense chopped-up vocals, guitars, synthesizers and Axel's signature loops, the lead single is a success. John Stanier [Battles] sits in on drums and assists in incorporating natural propulsive percussion into the song’s musical DNA.

Nonetheless, Yesterday & Today has far too many moments that seem to go nowhere, leaving the listener waiting for a payoff that unfortunately never comes. Album opener “I Have The Moon, You Have The Internet” gets stuck too long on a one note drone without paying much attention to the beauty or the vastness that the song’s title evokes. Additionally, the cover of “Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime” (by British group the Korgis) attempts to pay homage to the atmospheric soundscapes of M83 without really capturing the “shoegaze,” otherworldly feel of Anthony Gonzalez’s more epic compositions.

As Axel brings the set to a close with “Sequenced” the listener is once again brought back to the calming, robotic territory of his former work—a musically cerebral place that The Field should attempt to visit often and again.

—Jason Barbanell
06.02.09