Jordan Anderson – Hand of Fear

3.22.19 by Ryan Masteller

I can’t even leave the house. I’ve been totally neutralized as competent force within society, unable to contribute anymore in any meaningful way. It’s this FEAR that’s got me, this TERROR that something bad’s going to happen to me as soon as I step out into the world. They say it’s just paranoia, but I’m not one to throw that kind of caution to the wind. Trust me, I have an unhealthy obsession with safety – I basically need an inner tube in the bathtub so I don’t accidentally fall asleep and slip under the water. I also drink a pot of coffee before baths. (I also take baths, not showers.)

I MIGHT be afraid of Jordan Anderson. He seems scary, because he has a tape of electronic music out called “Hand of Fear,” and I’m not sure I can handle it in the advanced state of perceptive decay I currently find myself in. But I don’t have to leave the house to listen to tapes, and I can email what I write instead of trudge it down to the mailbox where people who want to hurt me can see me. There’s also a photo of a car driving very fast on the j-card, and there’s just no way I can imagine putting myself in a situation like that. So I’m extra frightened.

But … I’m soothed. (I’m as surprised as the rest of you – I thought I’d be up all night because I wouldn’t be able to begin to sleep without the lights on.) In the end I’m blanketed like a baby by the electronic pixelations dreamed up by Jordan Anderson in what could only be described as a fit of kindness. Because how can “Hand of Fear” creep down your spine with cold, bony fingers, chilling your very soul, when its patches and tones are so warm and inviting? It’s like the idea of a “Hand of Fear” is something that Anderson wants to rebel against, to push back from. But we’re still steeped in tension, yessir – that’s what gives the tape its edge, its enduring sense that everything is happening at once, too fast, and it’s all impossible to stop.

Maybe I’m just a sucker for the fragmented IDM along the lines of Aphex Twin or Squarepusher, artists I used to listen to during the times of my life I could walk out the front door. “Hand of Fear” “grips” (pun definitely intended!) me similarly, taking off down fractured pathways of mangled digital percussion, pushing the limits of composition within the confines of BPM and emerging in complete tonal oases where the only thing to do is … emerge along with “Hand of Fear.” Jordan Anderson is a counterbalance to the madness, a smoothly flowing conduit of kinetic energy for machines with lots of ball bearings for maximum frictionlessness. Or something like that. I’m still not going outside.

Only 20 of these available from Outward Records, so act fast! Comes with a sticker and buttons. Hooray!