New York trio Forma promised some changes with Physicalist, their 2016 debut for Kranky Records, but while it's a retreat from the techno flirtations they served up on their 2014 EP Cool Haptics (The Bunker New York), the first half of the album offers a familiar approach. Sharpening up the basic MO of their 2011 self-titled debut and 2012 album Off/On (both on Spectrum Spools), they place a pop focus on late Kosmische tools and the pioneering synthesizer music of Laurie Spiegel, deploying an array of synthesized sounds—rubbery post-Kraftwerk synth arpeggios over rolling bass tones and driving, uncluttered dance beats—using tactics common in 70s and early 80s electronic music.…
New York trio Forma promised some changes with Physicalist, their 2016 debut for Kranky Records, but while it's a retreat from the techno flirtations they served up on their 2014 EP Cool Haptics (The Bunker New York), the first half of the album offers a familiar approach. Sharpening up the basic MO of their 2011 self-titled debut and 2012 album Off/On (both on Spectrum Spools), they place a pop focus on late Kosmische tools and the pioneering synthesizer music of Laurie Spiegel, deploying an array of synthesized sounds—rubbery post-Kraftwerk synth arpeggios over rolling bass tones and driving, uncluttered dance beats—using tactics common in 70s and early 80s electronic music.…