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A very fine album, Shpongle's best to date. There are so many things done right here, and you can tell that production/musicians/songwriters all put a lot of hours into it. The only track I didn't care for was "I am You," (particularly the annoying voice clip that overstays its welcome "10 fate tawl...") but the rest are solid 4's and above--a couple are 4.5's as well. "Ineffable Mysteries," and "Invisible Man In A Fluorescent Suit," being solid 5's. And I am very picky, and don't give out 5's (perfect scores) liberally. A couple of the most pleasing things are: the enigmatic aspects of some of the songs (ie: Invisible Man) there is a song bird/synth/flute -- that is repeated early on that is very catchy. And I could never quite figure out if it was just a very crisp sounding manipulated flute, sonically manipulated songbird, or a purely digital creature (synth). That is one of my favorite aspects, how the organic blends so seamlessly and ambiguously with the digital--they become indistinguishable from one another oftentimes. The other thing being the manipulation of vocals. I don't know of any other electronic musician on this planet who processes organic vocals as well as Simon does. The echos, the broken record-esque repetition of ineffable vowels (Electroplasm, 4:34), and the fluctuating highs that are milked for are they're worth--but don't go overboard or become too repetitive and indulgent. You could take the worst American Idol singer, and Simon could make their vocals sound like they were Gods.
I highly encourage anyone who likes world/ethnic music AND/OR electronic music to pick this album up! Give it a couple listens of course to let it settle into your cranium, but you won't be disappointed!
Rating:  [4 of 5 Stars!] |
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