Anna Meredith: "Taken"

Anna Meredith is a composer whose music finds its way into solemn concert halls, and she is often compared to art-music titans like Björk and Planningtorock. Which is funny, because her music feels like an overtired toddler careening off a series of bright, rounded surfaces: It is itchy, giggly, restless, and basically the opposite of “composed” in any emotional sense.

“Taken” is from her excellent upcoming album Varmints, and its giddily anarchic A-student energy reminds me of turn-of-the-century electronica like Max Tundra or Stereolab, when people making music on laptops were so enraptured by the freedom they painted in pastels. The chirping synth figure that introduces the song could soundtrack a revolt at a flea circus. Some messy guitars join in a moment later, but to go on describing every element would be like unpacking the plot of an “Animaniacs” episode. At the center of all this information, which overlaps in unruly, chattering waves, there’s a simple, catchy chant to hang onto: “Yeah, yeah.” Even beneath that, the bass line does a wild little prog-jazz dance. This song is a relentless ham, and it doesn’t stop so much as get yanked offstage by its neck with a hook.

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