Four to the floor is a dirty term amongst electro snobs. There is something about the 4/4 steady beat that is wonderfully body moving, yet it can be so overplayed and boring after listening to an entire album or after a long night in the club. What's even worse is when that four to the floor is accompanied by the same lead synth sounds with very little variation (I'm looking at you, Paul Van Dyke).

So what a delight it is to come across Hard Islands and find not only the comfort of the 4/4 beat for us house heads, but also some serious variety and consideration to the beats and general musical content. Nathan Fake has created an album that is a pleasant marriage of house and minimal down-tempo. "Basic Mountain" is sparse, yet it feels like a much more rounded song due to the varied rhythmic content. The melody is short and repetitive, which would be a major flaw if the beat wasn't constantly under scrutiny and allowed to have little grace notes and chorus breaks to add interesting elements of experimentation and a "human" quality to the music.

"Castle Rising", the longest track on the album at nearly nine minutes, plays with a more avant-garde type melody that is more glitchy and disjointed. The beat is steady and driving as is expected, yet in the IDM tradition, it is constantly being chopped and stuttered throughout, jarring the mind out of simple boredom from 4/4 droning. Thematic rhythmic layers added occasionally during the song to remind the listener what came at the beginning of the album and create not only variety but a cohesive web of ideas and sounds.

Hard Islands plays like an album that is meant to be listened to as a whole, rather than a collection of songs that can be taken out of context and danced to at any given time. With the inclusion of "The Curlew", a short, melodic interlude, the album allows for a slight breather before the Daft Punk-esque "Narrier" takes over with filters creating the melody on repeating leads and pads. This album is definitely not accepting pre-made patches as default sounds. Every sound has a texture that has obviously been tweaked just a little to get a little something more personal out of the synth.

While this album can be a little repetitive, "Fentiger" is a wonderful example of what Hard Islands does right. Layer upon filtered and tweaked layer is added to create a rather robust, yet still minimal sound that can be listened to in the background or enjoyed on headphones for a rich aural experience. Hard Islands shines as a sort of acid house/minimal hybrid that proves music can be dancey without a beat that never stops.

The simplicity, however, does offer some room for improvement, as the melody can be a little mundane, losing its impact on the listener. The overall construction of the album is such that the rhythmic content and overall sound experimentation more than make up for less than stellar melodic content, though. This album is for house heads who are looking for something more and minimal lovers seeking a beat to set their watches to.

-Greg Norte