846:, a genre that was not well received by music critics because, in Dean's words, it was "terrible." He panned the album for "telling rather than showing," writing that it used a very complex concept to make up for the actual music being bland and forgettable: " provoke an interesting set of concepts and questions, which is good, but results in an album in which a majority of the heavy lifting is performed by the extra-textual aspects of the project, providing undeserved depth to a series of obsessive repetitions of the banal." Another mixed opinion came from
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260:"Something that's interesting about Exo is that it's really a hybrid art-piece and commercial project. It's not an art-piece sampling commercial aesthetics, it's not a commercial project trying to look artsy – it's a really interesting hybrid. We're trying to push the artistic aspect to the point where it's confusing what kind of product it is."
406:. Many of the effects and objects used in the environments, such as trees, rocks and camera systems, were bought from Unity's app store, but Robak stated that the challenge came from where he would place these objects in the environments so they would look natural. Robak's ability in designing game-like worlds advanced from "
516:
that, in Ross's words, worked against each other. Ross said that "what you achieve from that is you have maybe one little loop as an audio track that's in time and really powerful and working perfectly—if you modulate reverbs or phasers or other kinds of effects over time on that sound, you have this
819:
space to lose themselves in the vintage acid beats and squiggling synth noise." The 405's Corao Malley spotlight's the record immersive feel, writing that it "is so much more than them sum of its parts, creating its own, high-energy, high-speed world and sounding better with each passing listen." A
532:
using imagery containing references to films, but the use of those references was improvised instead of planned out to give the LP a vague narrative that's up to listener interpretation. The album follows a basic narrative about a world that is created from the beginning of the LP and destroyed at
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journalist Robert Ham scored the album four stars out of five, mainly praising the sounds used on the album. His only criticism was the short lengths of each track, writing that "songs build and build and build toward a glorious apex, but then quickly die out, not letting listeners truly have the
349:
performance in
Portland in 2010. They all quickly bonded with each other thereafter with Robak moving into New York with the duo. The process of making the project involved the duo and Robak constantly sending musical and visual plans and concepts to each other without taking a break to the point
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Gatekeeper and Thomas Robak said that works with an HDIY style look or sound professionally made despite being created in a quick amount of time with non-professional material. Robak claimed the HD part of it was “a commitment to quality and a level of detail” as well as a "response" to the heavy
814:, in that it has influences that feel familiar to the listener yet are unique to the album and have never existed before: "Gatekeeper's sonic predecessors are obvious yet disparate, and what makes the duo's music so striking is the resultant fusion of all these influences."
548:
was first announced on June 28, 2012 with the artwork that was also designed by Robak revealed. Robak also designed a font that was used to create secret message in the album's artwork, and it became downloadable on June 28. The cover art was panned by
Vincent Pollard of
810:"impenetrable, multifaceted, and irrepressibly imaginative," praising for being serious and dark while still having a humorous quality to it that "can only be accompanied by some winking self-awareness." He also compared the record to the works of
40:
852:
magazine writer
Christopher R. Weingarten, who said that the LP's "intentionally chintzy acid house" ruined any sort of tension it had from sounds such as "blood drips, smoking bullet casings drop" and "a robotic slasher flick."
311:, which is entirely made out of very high-quality sounds, examines the high amount of presence of high-definition video content in everyday life and how HD technology can lead to unthinkable possibilities.
504:, given that the 707 could only sync up the rhythm of all instruments perfectly for only a limited amount of time. However, there were a few kick drum notes performed that were left slightly off the
283:
which made them feel "really spiritual and charged up." In the winter of 2012, they moved back into their homes feeling inspired from these sites to create the first track the duo made which used
445:
science fiction moods. Sound effects that are commonly found in high-definition film trailers are present throughout most of the record to develop each environment of the track. The sounds were
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as "gloriously dumb" and, in some spots, "promisingly brazen." However, he also noted the LP's futuristic element to be "stunted by the past bearing down too hard on their coattails."
402:, where Chicago production team Thunder Horse produced them with the involvement of the duo, Robak was given complete control over how he would design the visuals for
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libraries. With the two feeling an "extra depth" in the quality of the sounds used for the track, the experience would later become the inspiration for a
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drum machine. All of the jam recordings were heavily edited. A majority of the editing included numerous hours of additional
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the end; it starts with spiritual space sounds in "Dromos" before the record gradually gets darker to the point where an
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album departs from the synth-heavy style of
Gatekeeper's past releases, in that most of the melodies are performed by a
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508:. All of the instrument channels in the Logic sessions of each song were heavily filtered, having approximately ten
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and a visual gaming environment for it by
Internet artist Tabor Robak; Gatekeeper and Robak described it as "HDIY."
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198:, consisting of musicians Aaron David Ross and Matthew Arkell. It was released on July 17, 2012, on the label
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Hollywood film sound effects. Gatekeeper was inspired to follow this HD aesthetic from an experience at
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which made them feel "really spiritual and charged up" to create the first track on the album, "IMAX."
345:." The three "tossed around jpegs and stuff" for a few years before meeting in person at a Gatekeeper
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369:(2013), where the player goes through environments to excite his or her imagination. Ross described
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was promoted with a visual exploration video game with environments designed by
Internet artist
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1156:"Gatekeeper Share New Track, Tour Dates, Downloadable Font for Decoding Secret Messages"
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s feel as more "immersive" than the "VHS fuzziness" of
Gatekeeper's previous release,
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331:-esque virtual landscapes, his only experience being his and Jon Rafman's art piece
1080:"Explore The Sublime Visual World Of Tabor Robak's Video Game For Gatekeeper's Exo"
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1050:"For Their New Album 'Exo,' Gatekeeper Presents An Immersive Gaming Environment"
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for only being a revitalization of 1990s electronic body music and
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sounds. The track was titled "IMAX," and they used recordings from
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398:. Unlike the making of the visuals for Gatekeeper's extended play
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in the summer of 2011, Aaron David Ross and
Matthew Arkell viewed
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were favorable in general, holding an aggregate 70 out of 100 on
1120:. Aaron David Ross Official Website. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
327:. At the time, Robak still had a very limited skill in creating
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upon its release were positive in general. Sputnikmusic called
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All of the instruments were recorded all at once in one-take
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meeting, when Robak was still living in his hometown of
1134:""Every Dream Comes To An End": Gatekeeper Interviewed"
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Gatekeeper first met
Internet artist Tabor Robak in a
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469:-gliding noise sounds on "Tree Drum." All of the
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1028:on August 4, 2012. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
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414:" level during the one year it took to create
339:) which he described as "not much better than
8:
1347:R. Weingarten, Christopher (July 17, 2012).
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1096:"Five things that inspired Gatekeeper's Exo"
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382:(2010). The duo and Robak claimed that with
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1108:. July 2, 2012. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
394:to create the environments for the game of
357:video game has a similar gameplay style to
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350:where they were "pretty much living Exo.”
38:
29:
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832:In a more mixed review, Jonathan Dean of
521:was commonly used to create high-pitched
453:'s EXS sampler to perform "alien" out-of-
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537:occurs by the closing track "Encarta."
496:, and the recordings were synced to a
1441:Electronic albums by American artists
1349:"Gatekeeper, ‘Exo’ (Hippos in Tanks)"
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568:
485:bass synthesizer are also on many of
7:
1078:Kaganskiy, Julia (August 13, 2012).
1177:Pollard, Vincent (August 7, 2012).
768:
698:
265:— Tabor Robak in an interview with
27:2012 studio album by Gatekeeper
525:'d percussion sounds and hi-hats.
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1014:Ivers, Brandon (August 2, 2012).
861:All tracks written by Gatekeeper
660:
622:
1154:Battan, Carrie (June 28, 2012).
970:Saxelby, Ruth (August 7, 2012).
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528:Gatekeeper created the music of
1318:Neyland, Nick (July 20, 2012).
1288:Stannard, Joseph (2012-07-15).
1268:Baker, Daniel (July 18, 2012).
1223:Malley, Corao (July 13, 2012).
1461:Intelligent dance music albums
1132:Fox, Charlie (July 24, 2012).
1048:Olbrich, Suze (July 5, 2012).
390:. Robak used the game engine
315:Gaming environment and visuals
1:
1412:. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
1361:. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
1278:. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
1231:. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
1187:. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
1168:. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
1142:. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
1086:. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
1062:. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
980:. Retrieved January 25, 2017.
186:is the first studio album of
1451:Electronic body music albums
972:"Gatekeeper: Enter The Void"
1016:"In the Studio: Gatekeeper"
479:Sequential Circuits Pro-One
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1376:Tao, Conrad (2012-07-21).
295:aesthetic of the music of
1246:"Exo - Gatekeeper Review"
1082:. The Creator's Project.
599:
596:
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254:Background and HD concept
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218:with a sound palette of
481:. Sounds made with the
101:intelligent dance music
63:July 17, 2012
1471:Hippos in Tanks albums
517:evolution of it." The
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234:using the game engine
541:Release and promotion
502:audio synchronization
250:as of February 2017.
91:Electronic body music
1426:Official EXO website
1290:"Gatekeeper – 'Exo'"
1024:. Archived from the
564:Professional ratings
333:BrandNewPaintJob.exe
281:World Heritage Sites
224:World Heritage Sites
825:reviewer described
565:
477:were done with the
1466:Acid techno albums
1404:"Gatekeeper – Exo"
1270:"Gatekeeper – Exo"
1225:"Gatekeeper – Exo"
1118:"Gatekeeper – Exo"
931:on August 18, 2012
921:"Gatekeeper - Exo"
886:"Tree Drum" – 2:57
563:
559:Critical reception
441:record with 1990s
289:movie sound effect
1446:2012 debut albums
1320:"Gatekeeper: Exo"
1106:The Vinyl Factory
804:music journalists
796:
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244:music journalists
179:
178:
175:
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18:Gatekeeper (band)
16:(Redirected from
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1456:Aggrotech albums
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1402:Dean, Jonathan.
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898:"Encarta" – 3:56
883:"Pre-Gen" – 0:52
877:"Vengier" – 3:28
871:"Visitor" – 0:32
868:"Exolift" – 3:09
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925:Hippos in Tanks
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895:"Re-gen" – 2:00
889:"Dromos" – 4:14
880:"Hydrus" – 4:44
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1198:"Exo Reviews"
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865:"Imax" – 1:21
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857:Track listing
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1382:. Retrieved
1352:
1328:. Retrieved
1326:. Conde Nast
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1299:. Retrieved
1293:
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1228:
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933:. Retrieved
929:the original
874:"Bog" – 3:41
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48:Studio album
1139:The Quietus
935:January 29,
798:Reviews of
463:synthesizer
439:acid techno
363:(2012) and
305:lo-fi music
232:Tabor Robak
212:acid techno
106:acid techno
1435:Categories
1384:2012-09-27
1301:2012-09-27
1255:2012-09-27
1207:2012-09-27
1202:Metacritic
1166:Conde Nast
1084:Vice Media
1060:Vice Media
903:References
583:Metacritic
535:apocalypse
523:portamento
473:sounds on
457:melodies.
329:video game
248:Metacritic
196:Gatekeeper
192:electronic
145:chronology
143:Gatekeeper
67:2012-07-17
53:Gatekeeper
1359:SpinMedia
1324:Pitchfork
1161:Pitchfork
844:aggrotech
838:disliked
822:Pitchfork
729:Pitchfork
451:Logic Pro
418:overall.
96:aggrotech
78:2011–2012
1275:The List
1250:AllMusic
1184:Exclaim!
1026:original
816:Allmusic
653:The List
616:AllMusic
552:Exclaim!
506:downbeat
461:is less
412:Xbox 360
337:BNPJ-EXE
75:Recorded
60:Released
50: by
1229:The 405
606:The 405
447:sampled
366:Proteus
360:Journey
321:MySpace
216:sampler
190:-based
188:Chicago
169:(2012)
160:(2010)
65: (
1055:Noisey
734:5.8/10
600:Rating
597:Source
587:70/100
577:Rating
574:Source
429:is an
202:. The
114:Length
1021:XLR8R
977:Dazed
802:from
754:4.5/5
455:scale
449:with
443:urban
422:Music
392:Unity
374:'
268:Dazed
242:from
236:Unity
131:Label
84:Genre
1354:Spin
1332:2012
1101:Fact
937:2017
849:Spin
746:5/10
741:Spin
610:7/10
512:and
437:and
400:Giza
379:Giza
353:The
342:Doom
210:and
194:duo
156:Giza
1295:NME
840:Exo
827:Exo
808:Exo
800:Exo
691:NME
546:Exo
530:Exo
487:Exo
475:Exo
467:LFO
459:Exo
435:IDM
431:EBM
427:Exo
416:Exo
410:to
404:Exo
396:Exo
384:Exo
371:Exo
355:Exo
309:Exo
297:Exo
240:Exo
228:Exo
208:IDM
204:EBM
183:Exo
165:Exo
33:Exo
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