By the time Ecstatic Computation was released in 2019 at the latest, Caterina Barbieri had played a significant role in the re-emergence of trance as a widely accepted genre. Her design, however, has only little to do with the recent triumph of droning surfaces in dance music. Rather, the Milanese melds the undoubtedly aesthetic qualities of this music with a more contemplative pop gesture that moves in the distance, without resorting to overly consensual means such as a continuous kick drum in her pieces; in a way, she relates to trance pop like Barker does – think of his album »Utility« – to techno. She produced »Myuthafoo« at the same time as her aforementioned milestone, which is why she refers to the six previously unreleased tracks as a »sister LP« in the press release. This makes more than sense: »Math Of You« and the closing track »Swirls Of You« not only echo the name of the track »Pinnacles Of You«, which was unjustly relegated to second place behind »Fantas« on »Ecstatic Computation«. The pop appeal they exude is underpinned by those cheesy, squeaky synths that make the Barbieri sound so unique and gave way to a more heterogeneous sound on her previous album »Spirit Exit«. Even the title track radiates precisely that spiritually pure, cathartic, gradually heightened emotionality that is unique to Caterina Barbieri’s work. It’s a great album that completes a work of art you that you had no idea was incomplete.
Joe Henderson
Power To The People
Craft