Though clearly the work of a skilled musician/producer who knows his influences inside out and a technically competent release, “Duality” is not without its flaws, the biggest of which is a certain lack of personality. Something to consider working on when preparing new material, perhaps…
Category: Featured Reviews
V/A – 2010 Hands
“2010 Hands” follows suit from previous instalments in this compilation series, presenting material by a variety of artists, from relative newcomers to label staples along with material by lesser-known side projects. In the end, most of the contents of this compilation should come across as fairly familiar to those used to the musical aesthetics of Hands Productions. Nevertheless, there are a few surprises which make it worth checking out.
Millipede – Powerless
The very fibers of “Powerless” are just soaked in misery of the most pedestrian kind. This isn’t misery you can tap into and feel – whilst this release does try hard, the emotional content seems somewhat lacking, or hard to connect with.
Laurent Pernice vs. Laurent Perrier – Play Piano and Sounds
Although individual tracks on “Play Piano and Sounds”, with its unambiguous title of resounding literalness, are attributable to either one or the other Laurent, the interspersed presentation and shared vision make this a collection of mutual inspiration rather than the already familiar encounter between classical/jazz musician and electronic producer.
Abs6 – Audiomedikation
“Audiomedikation” is one of those albums that is deceiving at first due to its slow start, but it gets heavier, the rhythms more interesting and the album really does flow amazingly well.
Jerôme Chassagnard – The Time from Underneath
This is an album that needs to be heard as an album. The way the tracks work together, it would be hard to separate them and it has an almost Kraftwerk-like sound to it. There’s also resemblance to early Future Sound of London and even some Sven Väth throughout the entire album.
Kyle Bobby Dunn – A Young Person’s Guide to Kyle Bobby Dunn
Formulated from the drone alchemist’s primary ingredients of sustained, repeated sounds and tone-clusters, “A Young Person’s Guide…” finds sources in brass, strings, guitar and piano, electronically warped, stretched and woven into expansive textures. What results are two hours of profound introversion.
Dead Voices On Air – From Afar All Stars Spark and Glee
To put it in a nutshell, this record proves that Mark Spybey is one of these artists who, after a long career, are still able to cleverly renew their style while remaining faithful to their roots. And for listeners who are mostly into dark and heavy music, this kind of bright interval can sometimes be a real blessing.
V/A – Hypercommunity
Aliens serve up something excellent in the form of “Hypercommunity” – and the record forms both an excellent introduction to a very exciting label as well as a welcome sampler of new material for existing fans.
Edgey – Misfire
The reason why “Misfire” falls short comes down to its chaotic nature. That said, it is still lots of fun, and a great party record, but works better in a shuffled playlist than as a stand-alone album.