Tim Exile “Don’t Think We’re One” (buy me)

This track is totally doing it for me right now. Takes the glossy IDM/synthpop stuff — and IDM/bleep has always had a major synthpop undercurrent going on, maybe because they all come from the same place — that Plaid has always done so well, and successfully creates an “actual song” out of it (note the quotes). The chorus is super catchy, I love how the arrangement just keeps building throughout (yeah, I’m totally a sucker for killer arrangements), and the lyrics make being anti-social and fucked up (the dark side of “nerdy”) feel somehow sexy and cool. Also crazy. Unfortunately the rest of the album takes every element that works on this song, and indulges their worst characteristics. The IDM parts get all fussy and fart-noisey, and the pseudo-Depeche vocals get poncey and repetitive. There’s also a general showy smartness to it that gets grating — “Look, I made a (anti!)pop song about the credit crisis, and the time signature totally changes multiple times in it!! Also I made my voice sound like a fax machine!” — and is, sadly, very IDM. Oh well, one awesome song is still totally invaluable in my book.