The eponymous first LP by Motion Graphics is musical chameleon Joe Williams’s first release
under the Motion Graphics moniker. Although Williams’s past releases have covered everything
from glam rock to IDM, his latest release is a colorful and innovative take on glitch­pop. Opening
track “Lense” has Williams intoning wistful lyrics about birds while the instrumental is full of
synth swells, ethereal vocal samples, and computer error sounds that are just crazy enough
to work perfectly. “Houzzfunction” continues further down the dreamy information superhighway
of electronics while being reminiscent of contemporary Tennyson, with his attention to detail for
lush sound design. As goofy as it sounds, the track “Anywhere” can best be described as
witnessing the whirring mechanisms of a computer factory in action, except each machine is
spitting out a dreamy arpeggio or glitchy percussion stab. Throughout Motion Graphics, it
sounds like Williams is incorporating other traditionally unmusical sounds such as electric drills,
what sounds like the THX intro (on the smoky pentatonic based track “Minecraft Mosaic”), and
god knows what else into his sample pallette. Thankfully, Williams channels the chill vocal
stylings of Washed Out and a more sleepy Panda Bear to maintain a human touch and keep the
listeners grounded as they travel through his tangled webs of synths and samples. On Motion
Graphics, Williams keeps one foot steeped in the nostalgia of vaporwave while boldly putting his
other foot forward into unmapped territory.

-Eli Wheeler