Transient Thoughts 010 - Streymoyer - Where

-

 

Where to begin with an album like this? There are so many concepts explored and so many stylistic changes that the sheer length and scope of the album make it challenging to finish in one sitting.

The album begins in truly excellent fashion.  The first five tracks especially are extremely well crafted cinematic dreampunk compositions.  They are dynamic, never overly complex, and they take their time to build into a beautiful haze filled mood.  They all flow into one another, giving the sense that they are individual components of an album rather than just isolated songs.

After those first five tracks though, the quality begins to dip.  The next two songs go from bad to worse, with Anything Anymore being just abysmal.  There are droning vocals present over a repeating melody that doesn't progress anywhere.  I like to take albums in as a whole, as the artist intended the listener to.  As such I hardly ever skip tracks, but this particular song often finds my thumb clicking the next button.

From this point forward the album attempts to regain its former glory but never quite gets there.  The songs will revisit some of the same concepts that made the first five tracks so excellent but there is a missing element that keeps it from reaching those same heights, with two exceptions.  

Yet I’m still drawn back to this album.  Why? It's because of the effects used on the synths.  The lead instruments have this distorted, vhs static quality to them that I’ve never heard used in quite this fashion anywhere else.  They give the music this eerie feel that is distinct to this album, and instantly makes it identifiable.  

This haze is used best on the epic song Up There.  This massive beast of a song goes through several movements but they all retain that same quality to the synths that I find so alluring.  The song even contains some of the droning vocals.  Even so the song rises above it to truly warrant its 14 minute run time.  

The album ends as strongly as it finishes.  It bookends some mediocre songs with some fascinating and wonderful music.  The unique distortion on the synths and atmosphere in combination with these fantastic compositions makes this a unique yet flawed addition to my collection.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

019.5 - The Deep Dive - Wushimi Complex - The Anon Database Notes and Interviews

-
Image
  The deep dive is for readers who want to dig further into the album by reading the notes and pre-review interview that is done with each artist.  It is best read after the review. The Anon Database by The Wushimi Complex Notes Lost in Neon - Oh man the intro to this thing is something else.  The album starts out with feedback and resonant noise that transitions beautifully into a slow brooding melody.  Immediately grabs the listeners attention and gives just a hint of what is going to be coming.  The resonance in the background never fully goes away either, giving a sense of tension to the music.   The end of the introductory period is punctuated by a strong mechanical kick drum.  Subtle percussion drives the song into its main phase, the mechanical angle still going strong.  Gives the sense that we are in some sort of industrial complex.  The noise from the beginning continues to tease us in the background and at points it's the main driver of the song.  This balance or ba
Read more

021.5 - The Deep Dive - Macroblank - 絶望に負けた Notes and Interview

-
Image
  The deep dive is for readers who want to dig further into the album by reading the notes and pre-review interview that is done with each artist.  It is best read after the review. 絶望に負けた by Macroblank Notes 1 - Right off the bat you know where this is going.  Chill piano, a shaker, and bongos.  The piano just has the right amount of reverb on it, you know this is gonna be groovy as hell and chilled to the max.  It's after the first few chords that the first surprise hit me.  I was not expecting a guitar.  This may be one of the first times I’ve heard a Santana like guitar used in vaporwave. Whenever this song is on I can't help but either tap my foot or sway my body to the groove, it's that demanding of your attention.  The way that the bass interplays with everything gives this a nice fat bottom end too.   So breaking this down, there is the shaker, the bongos, but also a drumset on percussion.  The guitars are actually the lead instrument for a majority of the son
Read more

021 - Macroblank - 絶望に負けた

-
Image
    I’ve made a repeated point of how much I dislike much of vaporwave.  So much so that people are probably tired of me talking about it.  But it bears mentioning here once again to drive home a point.  For an album to come out of that genre that and not only sounds good, but ultimately makes it on to my best albums of the year list, it has to be truly exceptional.  It is this very scenario that has happened with Macroblank and his vaporwave masterpiece, 絶望に負けた . Macroblank came screaming into the vaprowave scene out of nowhere in mid 2020, and quickly releasing two albums and EP’s. These albums specialize in groovy, chilled out acoustic music with just a hint of reverb on it.  To those familiar with vaporwave this should ring a bell.  “ It’s no surprise when I say that the main influence behind my music and style is Haircuts for Men’s work.  I have always been a fan of chillout music, and this style of vaporwave represents one of the best ways to put it out ther e,” Macro explains. W
Read more