EP Review: Robert Allaire – Sacrament

We recently wrote about Evan Dice, a musician who wrote for theater and dance ensembles throughout college and has since begun producing his own atmospheric, electric violin-driven sounds. Artist Robert Allaire is another music composition pro who just came across our radar, but unlike Evan, Robert continues to primarily hone his craft through pieces specifically designed for visual interpretation – on stage or on screen.

The L.A. resident (and CalArts MFA graduate), who has collaborated with multiple choreographers and experimental filmmakers, recently released the digital version of Sacrament. The five-track post-noise EP originally accompanied the dark, modern dance piece of the same name. You can check out a 90-second trailer of the stage version here, but it isn’t necessary to watch a second of it to notice the violent, futuristic themes in the music itself.

For example, “She Rises Without” offers a post-apocalyptic vibe that straddles drone and industrial, and brings to mind Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ forthcoming The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo soundtrack. Throughout Sacrament, Robert utilizes hardware and acoustic feedback loops filtered through sounds of his own heart beats and breaths. It effectively conjures up the age-old struggle between spirit and science – a struggle most pronounced in the closing track, “Deicide/A Thing Not Quite Remembered.”

Aside from composing, Robert also keeps himself busy as a keytarist in the chip music dance band, Beta to the Max. This group project, with its new-wave synth influences, could draw comparisons to a chiller Dan Deacon, and provides a cool contrast to Sacrament’s darker tones.

Sacrament as a choreographed performance will be returning to L.A.’s Highways Performance Space next March, but in the meantime, pick up or stream the album in its entirety via bandcamp:



--Elaine Ordiz