[Rvng Intl.]

2011 has seen New York’s Blondes at work on a triptych of sorts for RVNG Intl. Each 12″ has been titularly split by opposing themes — Lover/Hater, Business/Pleasure, and finally Wine/Water — but any sonic splits have been subtle. Blondes make tracks that feel untamed and alive, and this conceptual boxing feels secondary to their considerable personality. Even so, Wine/Water is a fitting conclusion to the series, pairing two tracks that combine the communal rave spirit of Lover/Hater with the gliding suaveness of Business/Pleasure.

Both tracks show Blondes in trademark slow-burn mode, starting with wisps of glacial synths and building into swirling, full-bodied arpeggios. Moreover, both feature the resonant low-end that’s becoming more prominent in their material. “Wine” builds around a robust bass line and fragments of a male croon, adding some acidic touches and eventually culminating in a climax where all its crisscrossed elements flow in a sort of confused euphoria, heightened by washes of white noise. “Water” opens with a simple synth-pop bass line, which is quickly blanketed in rippling, slightly acidic synths and meditative atmospheric flourishes. Like the flip, it reaches a complex and heavily percussive, albeit less jubilant, peak. If Wine/Water proves anything, it’s that Blondes have a rare relationship with their equipment — able to coax out a definable signature sound, but also giving the impression that the machines have minds of their own.