As of late, the output of Makeup and Vanity Set has been staggering. Starting in May (only four months ago at the time of this publishing), he has released two EP’s inspired by Blade Runner (PRIS and Run), a remix EP he curated from fan submissions, the soundtrack to podcast Atlanta Monster, the soundtrack to the ongoing podcast Up and Vanished, a collaborative album with Jasmin Kaset called You Drive, another EP called Shadow Circuit and, now, another EP entitled Holy Mountain.
The craziest part about the insane deluge of music is that it isn’t all rote reworkings of the same basic ideas. Yes, it is electronic music and, yes, he tends to work within an aural space that is somewhat dark and brooding but each of the above releases has its own identity. That’s not an easy task to fulfill when you’re putting out a somewhat significant release every month.
Holy Mountain in particular is a great example of this diversity in that it is transcendental immersion into modular synth loops and ambient soundscapes. This is not the general foreboding vibe you expect from Makeup and Vanity Set. In fact, some of these songs even sound downright optimistic! Okay, that’s a bit of a stretch but it is a great deal of variety from his norm and I can’t wait to hear what the next thing is.