Cex creates an illustrious set of different music on Shamaneater but just when you’re satisfied with one branch of his expertise, he goes into another leading into another than many more, what may sound off or wrong suddenly becomes a part of his output, and you’re not sure whether to listen further or just immerse yourself in Cex’s richness.
At first, Shamaneater sounds like something ready-made for a bigger film or video production, or maybe something that’s meant to be heard in a soundtrack context. Other tracks could easily fit within a video game context, almost 8-bit but more bolder, bigger, and stronger, and when certain drums/drum samples may not sound like it fits, you take it in for yourself. The IDM feeling will make you react in a way that brings you in further into the pulse of the music, I think at times I’ll hear it at a certain tempo and automatically want to adapt to it in a hip-hop context (which works quite well in that fashion) but as you hear it slower or faster, it will lead you hearing to other things, or thinking in a way that isn’t just a friendly game of boom bap. The concentration in these pieces are similar to the video game experience, but it leads you in further. The fact that it serves as a soundtrack to a video game may prove its point, but it’s much more than that.
This Is Book's Music 